Mating frenzy, restlessness behind quolls deaths in Australia?

An interesting research which was published on Wednesday might have found out the reason why male Quolls, carnivorous marsupials native to Australia and New Guinea, generally do not survive after the first breeding season.

The research,though not conclusive,said that a sexual frenzy is a death sentence for male Quolls. The death of Quolls after the first breeding season for long puzzled researchers. They wondered for a long time why these Quolls were dropping dead.

The new research revealed that males are depriving themselves of rest in their relentless pursuit to mate with females. This restlessness during the breeding season and the mating frenzy could be the cause of the male deaths.

The team of researchers are of the opinion that this can potentially pose a threat to the survival of their already endangered species, reported Radio France Internationale quoting the published research.

What did the research involve? To conduct the research, tiny backpacks with tracking devices were strapped to seven male and six female northern quolls on Groote Eylandt, an island off the coast of Australia's Northern Territory.

Data was fetched from the tracking devices and was analysed for further findings. The data which was collected for 42 days for both the breeding season and the non-breeding season showed that males were found to be far more active than females.

Though males survived only for the first breeding season, the females were able to live for up to four seasons. The level of rest taken by males and females also differed by a significant margin.

As per the study published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, the females rested for around 24 per cent of the time, while the males took rest only for just 7 per cent.Joshua Gaschk of the University of the Sunshine Coast in a conversation to AFP said, "males didn't seem to be sleeping anywhere near as much as they should".

It is however not conclusive whether the mating frenzy is the real reason of male deaths after the first breeding season.

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