REINTRODUSE AUSTRALIA
Female bridled nail-tail wallaby (Onychogalea fraenata) with joey in its pouch at David Fleay Wildlife Park, Burleigh Heads, Queensland. Image © Copyright DiverDave
What we face loss, but have a hope
Australia has the worst rate of recent mammal extinctions in the world: more than 10 per cent of Australia’s 273 mammal species has gone extinct since European settlement, and more than 100 native mammal species are on the brink of disappearing forever – including the iconic Australian mammal – Bridled Nailtail Wallaby.
Predation by feral cats and foxes changed fire patterns and feral herbivores are the main threats driving the decline of Australia’s wildlife. Some of Australia’s most iconic mammals, such as the Numbat (Myrmecobius fasciatus), Greater Bilby (Macrotis lagotis), Bridled Nailtail Wallaby (Onychogalea fraenata) and Mala (Rufous Hare-wallaby, Lagorchestes hirsutus) are now either extinct in the wild or barely persist in just a fraction of their former range.
But there is hope: AWC is successfully halting the decline of some of Australia’s most endangered mammals and restoring their populations.
AWC’s national reintroduction program is one of Australia’s few stand-out conservation success stories for these – and other – endangered native animals.
The Bridled Nailtail Wallaby was believed to be extinct for much of the 20th century until the chance discovery of a surviving population in 1973. AWC reintroduced a population to our Scotia Wildlife Sanctuary in 2005 and now supports around 50 per cent of the global population of this species.
More recently, AWC reintroduced these wallabies to the Pilliga, NSW, in partnership with the New South Wales and Queensland Governments.
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