Threatened Species Day a sober reminder

Quolls are high on the endangered list and could afce the same fate as the Tasmanian Tiger, wildlife groups believe.

Like the thylacine, the endangered spot-tailed quoll is a meat-eating marsupial. So plans to drop bait from planes over vast tracts of land in Victoria to wipe out wild dogs threaten the little creature's existence.

There are just a few hundred of the cat-sized creatures left.

"A 7kg spot-tailed quoll that picks up bait poisoned at a strength to kill a 40kg dog will go the way of its eastern quoll cousins, which are now extinct on the Australian mainland," said Jill Redwood, spokeswoman for Environment East Gippsland.

Ms Redwood urged the Victorian Government to reconsider baiting.

But Agriculture Minister Peter Walsh said baiting would be carried out.

About 5000ha of inaccessible land is expected to be included in the initial baiting.


Down in Tasmania, the Minister for Environment, Parks and Heritage, Brian Wightman, has urged Tasmanians to consider the lessons of the past on Threatened Species Day and learn how they can help protect the State’s biodiversity.

Mr Wightman said the annual Threatened Species Day, held on 7 September, is particularly significant this year because it marks 75 years since the death of the last known Tasmanian Tiger.

“The death of the Thylacine in the old Hobart Zoo in 1936 is a symbol of what we have lost and of the importance of doing all we can to help those species now under threat,” he said.

“The protection and conservation of our threatened species isn’t something that ‘someone else’ will look after – we all have a role.

“We can all be aware of what is on our land and how best to look after it.

“Building, vegetation clearing and gardening - all of these activities can affect threatened species. But if we know what lives on our land and what it needs we can really make a difference.”

Mr Wightman said taking care on the roads and disposing of rubbish correctly were also examples of things individuals could do every day to help out.

Qld's Gulf Snapper faces a tough existence

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_snapping_turtle

The World Wildlife Fund says Australia's list of threatened species is growing by the year.
Michael Roache, the threatened species program manager with the WWF, says Australians should reflect on how vital many of these animals are to our ecosystems.
"There are more than 1,600 species listed by the Australian Government as threatened - that's too many," he said.
"Now unfortunately that number keeps rising.
"A lot of these species actually form integral parts of our ecosystem. More needs to be done."
Meanwhile, work is continuing to protect a threatened turtle that is confined to a north-west Queensland National Park.
Boodjamulla National Park ranger Lea Ezzy says there are various threats to the Gulf snapping turtle, but numbers seem to be stable.
"Very little is known about it even now - you know ,there is this endemic species that is found just here and nowhere else in the world.
"When you talk about threatened species and their public image, it is very easy to get caught up in those pandas and the bilbies.
"I am afraid the Gulf snapper is not quite as sexy yet."

Endangered list grows in Tasmania

ALMOST 200 native animals and plants have been put on Tasmania's endangered list since the last known thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, died in a Hobart zoo 75 years ago.

And a wildlife expert has warned that Tasmania could lose another four mammal species if foxes are allowed to take hold.

While the thylacine lives on in people's imaginations through speculation that the marsupial carnivores could still be roaming Tasmania's remote areas, other species have been wiped out but are rarely talked about.

They include the Tasmanian emu, the King Island emu and the Macquarie Island parakeet.

Tasmania also has lost the caddis fly, which used to live in the Great Lake area, and the Cascade funnel web spider.

Zoologist Chris Johnson, professor of wildlife conservation at the University of Tasmania, said Tasmania's wildlife would be annihilated if fox numbers increased to mainland levels.

Professor Johnson said the species most likely to be wiped out by foxes would be the eastern quoll, Tasmanian bettong, eastern barred bandicoot and Tasmanian pademelon.

The state's Threatened Species Protection Act now contains more than 600 plants and animals and the State Government receives new nominations every year.

Two hundred species are listed as endangered while others, such as the spotted quoll, are listed as rare.

Other species, such as the fin whale, are described as vulnerable.

The last known thylacine died on September 7, 1936.

Hobart alderman Bill Harvey wants the Hobart City Council to stage an event on Threatened Species Day, September 7, this year to highlight that sad anniversary and raise awareness about the continuing threats to other species in Tasmania.

"The community needs to reflect on the huge loss of species since European settlement and pay attention to the growing list of threatened and endangered species which are still vulnerable to land clearing, habitat loss, overgrazing, salinity and pollution," Ald Harvey said yesterday.

He said the biggest current threats to biodiversity were climate change, the spread of introduced plants and animals, and toxic plastic pollution in the oceans.

There has been a lot of focus on the endangered Tasmanian devil and its fight to survive a facial tumour disease which has spread across 65 per cent of the state and already wiped out around half the population.

But there are 34 other vertebrate animals mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and frogs also facing extinction.

These species include the sub-antarctic fur seal, the blue whale, the wedge-tailed eagle and the Tasmanian azure kingfisher.

The New Holland mouse, which lives in coastal areas in the North and North-East, including Flinders Island, is also listed as endangered.

Plants have been wiped out too. The southern shepherd's purse is now extinct, as is coast banksia and Tasmania's parsley fern.

More than 150 plants are on the endangered list.

Recovery plans have been put in place for some species.

In February the State Government put its draft Tasmanian devil recovery plan up for public comment and the Save the Tasmanian Devil program offers grants and scholarships.