The numbat, Australia's only marsupial myrmecophage, survives in tiny isolated populations relying entirely on intensive predator control to prevent fox and cat predation.
Numbats in uncontrolled areas face constant fox and cat predation pressure, causing chronic stress and population collapse. Welfare in predator-free fenced reserves is substantially better — animals show normal foraging, breeding and movement behaviour. Welfare of numbats during live trapping for health checks and relocations involves capture stress and anaesthesia risk. The fundamental welfare challenge is that this species cannot survive without continuous, expensive predator management.