Australian Endangered Animals

Definitions
When the numbers of a species, or kind, of animals become very low, they are facing a risk of becoming extinct.
Extinct means there are no more left.
Critically Endangered indicates that the species is facing an extremely high risk of being extinct very soon.
Endangered means a species is in danger of becoming extinct.
Vulnerable means that the species is not yet classified as endangered, but numbers are continuing to drop.

Go here to find the details about the international categories of animal populations.

Endangered and Vulnerable Australian Species
In the past 200 years about 17 different Australian mammals have become extinct. Many more mammals and other animals are in danger of dying out. Australia has more endangered species than any other continent.

Some reasons for animals becoming endangered
Some Australian animals depend on a specific food or habitat, and if these disappear, the animals will not survive.

Many native animals are killed by introduced predators such as cats, dogs and foxes.

Other introduced animals such as cattle, rabbits and deer eat the food needed by native animals and this has also reduced the numbers.

Hoofed grazing animals such as cattle and sheep often crush the burrows of small native animals. Hoofed animals are introduced, not native to Australia.

Loss of habitat as land is mined or cleared for houses or farms, or forests logged for timber, is also another major cause of the reduction of native animal numbers.

Some examples

	Thylacine, or Tasmanian Tiger is probably extinct, though people stll search for it. They were marsupials. They were hunted and killed by people who thought the thylacine would kill their chickens and sheep. The last known thylacine died in Hobart Zoo on 7th September 1936. This day is now known as Threatened Species Day.
	The lesser bilby has not been sighted since the 1960s, and is probably extinct. Its relative, the Greater Bilby is now endangered. Once common in central Australian desert areas, the numbers have been reduced by fire and foxes and its habitat affected by grazing cattle and rabbits.
	The numbat is endangered because of habitat loss and foxes. Once common across the southern part of the continent, it is now only found in a few forests in southwest Western Australia.
	Leadbeater's possum was not seen after 1909 and was thought to be extinct, but the possums were found again in 1961. They are endangered, and are only found in the Victorian central highlands, in old forest areas that are being logged. The animals nest in tree hollows, and these are only found in old trees.
Eastern Barred Bandicoot	Some desert species of bandicoot are extinct and the remaining species are vulnerable. If their habitats change, they will become endangered. One kind is the western barred bandicoot , now only found on a few islands in Shark Bay, Western Australia. The eastern barred bandicoot is now found only in Tasmania and in a few places in Victoria.
	Lumholtz's Tree-kangaroo, is a kangaroo that lives in trees. In Australia it is found only in northeastern Queensland, in highland rainforests. Queensland's rainforests are disappearing habitats, because of land clearing, and these animals are classified as vulnerable.
	The Australian sea-lion is vulnerable. These animals were hunted to near extinction. They are the only seal or sea-lion found exclusively in Australia.
	Another vulnerable marine mammal is the dugong, found grazing on sea grasses in warm shallow water off the northern coast.

Find out about some other endangered Australian animals:
Corroboree frog...frogs... quokka...quoll...Gouldian finch...possums and pygmy-possums... red-tailed phascogale... northern hairy-nosed wombat...western swamp turtle

One success story! The woylie.

Links to more information about some endangered Australian species
http://www.spx.nsw.edu.au/src/Links/endanganim.html

You can help! Get a group together for special action. Find out how.
http://www.rootsandshoots.org/

Acknowledge this source in your bibliography like this:
Australian Animals at Risk (2002). [Online], Available: www.kidcyber.com.au

Back to Animals

Updated July 2006

Updated July 2006