Are karda (Varanus rosenbergii) more abundant around traditional noongar lizard traps?

Construction of lizard traps on granite outcrops is a traditional hunting method used by the Menang Noongar people of southern coastal southwest Australia for Varanus rosenbergii (also called Karda by the Noongar, or Rosenberg’s Monitor by Europeans); an important protein source in pre-colonial diets. This method may have been employed to increase the abundance of this species or to aid access to this resource. To explore this question we combined Noongar traditional knowledge and western scientific techniques to investigate the abundance of lizard traps in relation to intensity of pre-colonial Noongar use and Karda abundance.. We found lizard traps were evenly distributed on granite outcrops across our study area regardless of likely past intensity of use by Noongar people. Using camera trap data and occupancy modelling we also found that Karda abundance was uniform across our study area and did not appear to be influenced by the presence of traps, indicating that their construction may have been to facilitate hunting rather than to increase their number.