Category Archives: Kangaroo Issues

Letter to Minister Neville: from Simon Validzic, Croatia

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Dear Minister Neville,

I am writing to ask that you end the trial which involves issuing Authority to Control Wildlife (ATCW) permits and allowing the killed kangaroos to be processed for pet food.

The use of kangaroo carcasses in the pet food trials was supposed to run from 31 March 2014 to 31 March 2016. This time period was not adhered to and it was announced by Minister Jaala Pulford that not only was the trial to continue for another two years but also the Local Government Areas (LGA) would be extended.

There has been absolutely no public consultation regarding the implementation of the trial and no public consultation regarding the extending of the trial. There have been no publically available figures for the number of kangaroos killed and processed for these trials and no reports.

What kind of person would support the killing of majestic, free-living animals (such as kangaroos) and feed them to a caricature of an animal that cannot live a natural life (such as a domestic dog)?

Your department has further announced that a total of 26,785 kangaroos are now due to be killed in what your department terms “Kangaroo Control Works” on public land. The reasons given for this mass slaughter are:

(a) One park which is a habitat for eastern barred bandicoot. The eastern barred bandicoot has lived in harmony with kangaroos long before white man settled there. It is absurd to suggest they cannot live in harmony now. The fact that feral cats and dogs are abundant in Victoria and are a threat to the bandicoot is a far more reasonable assumption.

(b) Three parks which are threatened woodland and vegetation communities and have historically been overgrazed by ‘livestock’. The key words here are ‘overgrazed by livestock’; overgrazing cannot be blamed on kangaroos when these parks are home to deer and rabbits.

(c) Two Department of Defence properties where kangaroos are contained. There is a simple solution to this problem – install kangaroo gates as advised by Department for Environment, Land, Water & Planning (DELWP).

(d) Two Melbourne Water properties where kangaroos are contained. The solution to this is also to install kangaroo gates as advised by DELWP.

(e) Two farm areas belonging to Gippsland Water where overgrazing is stated as a problem. The Kangaroo Management Plan compiled by Gippsland Water is deeply flawed. It shows very little understanding of the basic requirements for counting kangaroos or understanding the basic requirements and comprehension of Carrying Capacity and Dry Sheep Equivalent (DSE); both of which are vital in determining the amount of fodder cattle and kangaroos are eating.

Note: 1 sheep eats as much as 5 full-grown kangaroos. 2.5 rabbits eat as much as 1 full-grown kangaroo; rabbits are also browsers. 1 cow/steer eats as much as 60 full-grown kangaroos. 1 large deer eats as much as 50 full-grown kangaroos; deer are also browsers. 1 goat eats as much as 5 full-grown kangaroos; goats are also browsers.

There has never been a count of kangaroos in Victoria which means that your department has absolutely no knowledge regarding the kangaroo population. Yet your department continues to issue authorizations for the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of kangaroos without any credible science to back up your actions.

Of all states in Australia, Victoria is the worst when it comes to destruction of natural ecosystems. The continuing urban sprawl and expansion of other non-indigenous human activities has pushed all native animals into rural areas, but this fact is neither understood nor acknowledged by the government or farmers. It is necessary to plan connecting corridors so that kangaroos are able to join other populations and maintain genetic diversity.

I lived in Victoria from 1970 to 1992 and never saw a kangaroo in the wild. Since I am opposed to the white colonization of Australia (and North and South America) and the expansion of human activity into natural ecosystems, I returned to my country of origin and encourage others to do the same. Croatia is a relatively good example of humans co-existing with native animals, such as deer and bears.

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Despite the DELWP clearly stipulating that all non-lethal measures must be exhausted before protected native animals can be killed, little effort has been made to utilize non-lethal alternatives.

This slaughter of protected native animals is cruel and unnecessary. I wish to support the animal advocates of Victoria and ask that you stop this unnecessary killing of kangaroos.

Yours sincerely,

Simon Validzic
website: www.animal-friends-croatia.org

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Media Release: “Canberra Kangaroo culls rely on stale politicized science”

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MEDIA RELEASE: 15 May 2016: “Canberra Kangaroo culls rely on stale politicized science”: Australian Wildlife Protection Council says

Today, Maryland Wilson, AWPC President, said that Evolutionary Sociologist, Sheila Newman recently reviewed the government science behind the ACT culls, which will begin anew on Monday 16 April 2016. Newman found it excessively narrow, self-referencing, mechanistic and old-fashioned.   Newman reported in Conference Paper: REVIEW OF SCIENTIFIC BASIS OF CANBERRA’S KANGAROO CULLS that:

“Harvesting, damage mitigation and culling probably actually accelerate population growth in roos because the smaller ones survive and adapt by sexually maturing earlier – which speeds up fertility turnover.

Since 2003 DNA studies have shown that ACT and southern NSW roos, both male and female, migrate at significant rates and for longer distances than the ACT model assumes. Migration has probably been mistaken for fertility, rendering ACT roo counts unreliable and invalid. The ACT needs to stop culling and widen its research base to consider various genetically based algorithms that naturally restrain fertility opportunities in kangaroos.”

Examples of such algorithms include separate gender pathways, with ‘sexual segregation’ where male and female populations live apart. It is likely that the stable presence of mature dominant males and females in family and mob organisation inhibits sexual maturity and activity as has been shown in studies of other species, such as macaques and superb fairy wrens (the latter cooperative breeders). In humans, girls brought up with step-fathers who came late to the family were more likely to mature sexually earlier due to absence of Westermarck Effect.)”

“The ACT’s senior Ecologist, Donald Fletcher, found in his Phd that local kangaroos lived without damaging pasture or starving at densities of 5 per hectare, yet he had supported the ACT program that deems kangaroos at more than one per hectare to be in danger of starving and a threat to their own habitat.” 

crueltyillegalherdingcrashing

The ACT government in Canberra is pursuing a policy of rapid human population growth, mostly through publicly invited economic immigration, yet it blames kangaroos for being crowded out of the suburbs.

In June 2016 ACT – South West Australian Capital Territory was the fastest growing area in Australia and grew by 127.3%. (ABS http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/3218.0)

“Planned wildlife corridors need to be made safe and long-term viable to cope with people, car and kangaroo population movements. Most Australians love kangaroos and don’t want rapid human population growth. Australia’s capital needs to revise its growth policy in line with sustainability, democracy and appreciation of our unique ecology,” said Maryland Wilson, President, AWPC.

CONTACT: MARYLAND WILSON: 613 359788570 and 61417148501 and SHEILA NEWMAN 0412319669

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Media Release: WILDLIFE PLANNING OFFICER SAYS “DON’T’ CULL ROOS; PLAN WILDLIFE CORRIDORS!”

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 “Avoid culling roos for development by planning wildlife corridors,” says Craig Thomson, AWPC’s new Wildlife Planning Officer.

Today, 7 December 2015, the Australian Wildlife Protection Council (AWPC) announced its appointment of Mr Craig Thomson, of Wildlife Ecosystems Retention and Restoration, as their Wildlife Planning Officer.

“It’s a great privilege to work with AWPC,” said Mr Thomson. “Currently with land clearing for development, councils require ‘offsets’. But offsets very rarely consider what happens to displaced wildlife, except for ‘managing’ it, which is a euphemism for conducting ‘cull’ or ‘fertility’ programs.

Craig-Thomson-Wildlife Planner

Maryland Wilson, AWPC President, said she was shocked to read of Ian Temby’s recent call to cull kangaroos ahead of development as the only option for roos displaced by Melbourne’s expansion. (“Call for kangaroos to be culled along Melbourne’s urban fringe,”by Simon Lauder, ABC, 30 Nov 2015).

“There is another non-violent solution,” she said. “It is a scandal that we have suffered through a succession of planning documents for Melbourne, without any allocating land for habitat with interconnecting continuous wildlife corridors that would enable safe passage for native animals. They have also failed to provide more than a tiny handful of animal bridges and underpasses at significant points on roads where wildlife often cross. Kangaroos, koalas, and other wildlife are increasingly road accident victims. As Melbourne expands to accommodate its human population growth program, suburban development pushes them out onto roads. This is planning negligence. “

AWPC says it has repeatedly engaged with councils in devising detailed plans for wildlife corridors. To date, however, no state government has cooperated with these plans, despite obligations to protect wildlife under the Fauna and Flora Guarantee Act.

“Instead, we have been repeatedly stone-walled. The result is the carnage Mr Temby suggests can only be avoided through culls. AWPC will be seeking a meeting with the Andrews State Government to negotiate for wildlife corridors instead of culling,” said President Maryland Wilson.

Mr Thomson spoke of an imminent campaign to buy land on the Mornington Peninsula through crowd-funding. The aim is to create a private land reserve system for a wildlife corridor between national parks to sustain wildlife in the future. He says the matter is urgent as suburban development and a recent spate of farm-fencing are blocking the kangaroos’ natural behaviour on the Peninsula.

Mr Thomson added, “It is ironic that some farmers are paying a lot of money for services that kangaroos would provide for free. For instance, vineyards spend much time and money keeping grass and weeds down between the vines. But, if they took down the fences and let the kangaroos in, the roos would not eat the vines, but they would keep the grass short.”

CONTACT: Mr Craig Thomson, Wildlife Planning Officer, AWPC: 0474651292; Maryland Wilson, President, AWPC: 61359788570

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My response to “LOOKING AFTER THE BUSH: ECOSYSTEMS NEED PREDATORS” By Hans Brunner

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Dr. Jeff Yugovic, a highly respected botanist, insists that “Ecosystems need predators”, as he is seriously concerned that the browsing by ring-tail possums threatens to destroys all of the tree canopies on the Mornington Peninsula and declares it to be a looming disaster. He states in his draft “that there is a “possum plague” and tree health has seriously deteriorated”. He is also concerned that swamp rats are devastating orchid colonies which coincides with intensive fox and cat control, hence, his message, “Ecosystems need predators”. This statement was true before white man arrived on the peninsula. But now, after the original ecosystem has been severely fragmented into small and isolated and mostly weed infested reserves and where the native predators have been replaced by dog, foxes and cats, the true function of the original ecosystem has now been adversely altered.

Firstly about tree loss:

In a study: “Survey of Tree Die-back on the Mornington Peninsula, Vic.

(School of Forest Ecosystems Science, Heidelberg, 2006)” seven reserves were examined for the causes of tree die-back.

They were:

  • Lorikeet Reserve
  • Mt. Eliza Regional Reserve
  • Mt. Martha Foreshore
  • Mt. Martha Park
  • Woods Reserve
  • Warringine Park
  • Tyrone Reserve

Causes detected for tree die-back:

Phytophtora, a root disease

Armillaria, root rot and fungai

Bell Miners Associated Die-back

Other insect defoliaters (six species)

Mycospheralla, leaf disease

Bark and Wood Borers ( Longhorn Borers )

Mudulla Yellows

Salt, chloride toxicity

* Climate change with more hotter and longer heatwaves and longer periods of droughts.

*Droughts, (in high temperatures stomas close, prevent CO2 uptake causing the trees to starve and gradually die.)

* More frequent wild fires

* Weeds under trees makes leaves more palatable to possums.

* Suitability of soil types and altered water tables especially in built up areas.

Also see on internet “Catalyst-Tree death-ABC TV-Science”

Of the above seven reserves examined in only one, Mt Martha Park, was possum browsing mentioned and subsequent banding of trees recommended.

In all of the other reserves, tree die-back was only associated with a combination of all the above causes. (*my additions) In spite of this, Jeff still insists that beside possums browsing “ Other forms of tree fatalities are minor”

It is therefore important to consider all of these factors that contribute to tree die-back, and not just blame the ring-tail possums? If we want to prevent tree die-back we surely have to seriously consider all of the factors that will cause it. One other of these reasons is the smothering and killing of trees by the exotic Ivy and several other tree-climbers. I have observed this on many dead trees, especially in the Sweetwater Creek area.

Possums have evolved with trees and are part of the natural ecosystem. If they kill all the trees, they will kill themselves. I therefore don’t believe that there are too many possums and that they will be the only threat to all of the trees on the peninsula. Proper surveys to study all the causes of tree death are needed to clear this up.

The concern that the Mornington Council is putting too much effort into fox and cat control, and that this is “head and shoulder above the rest of the State” must be for good reasons and should therefore not be regarded as a problem. Dogs, foxes and cats do kill a lot of all types of native wildlife!

Re: Swamp Rats:

The numbers of swamp rats naturally fluctuate but, due to predation by foxes and cats, large colonies of swamp rats have of late been lost in many isolated reserves (personal observation) so that they are definitely not overabundant. As to the loss of orchids due to swamp rats, orchids grow manly in open areas while swamp rats live in dense ground cover of gahnia where orchids are not doing well. All species of orchids have survived in the presence of swamp rats for thousands of years, so what has changed? Have contents of scats from swamp rats ever been examined for remains of orchid bulbs in order to proof that they are the actual culprit or the only one? Science please.

As to the effects of the original native predators, to which there is so much reference, here is what was described by some of the early settlers on the Mornington Peninsula in “The men who blazed the track”

“Kangaroos were formerly so plentiful that they resembled flocks of sheep. At Sandy Point they erected yards for a big kangaroo drive. Messrs Clark, White, Benton and others got 1500 in the first drive. ….. In the last drive they got 800 kangaroos. On the plain they were in thousands as also were the possums. One night they shot 95 possums in two hours. Bandicoots and goannas were also very numerous.”

And yet, there was a full compliment of native predators.

There were lots of dingoes as the top predator as well as Tasmanian devils, two species of quolls and large goannas as meso-predators and several species of birds of prey while the eastern quoll was the most commonest animal observed. This was the original, natural balance of a predators and prey relationship in the ORIGINAL and UNDISTURBED environment which was described as teaming with wildlife.

But, so much for the effects that these native predators were supposed to have had in reducing the numbers of kangaroos and especially of the thousands of possums and swamp rats. In spite of these enormous numbers of herbivores, including the large numbers of possums and swamp rats, all of the vegetation, including trees and orchids thrived well.

In contrast, since dogs, foxes and cats were introduced and the wildlife habitat on the Mornington Peninsula now fragmented and reduced by 82%, at least nine species of mammals have already become extinct on the peninsula including the nationally endangered southern brown bandicoot while many other species are critically endangered and the rest remain only in relatively small numbers. The present combination of the impacts by man, by predation, by heatwaves during which thousands of possums die, and through habitat loss and further isolation of habitat, it continues to decimate our wildlife including possums and swamp rats.

To give more freedom to foxes and cats will only exacerbate this tragic loss. In my research in the diet of foxes, ring-tails occurred only in 11% of scats while 89% of the rest of their diet contained mostly remains of endangered native mammals and birds. This does surely not justify the use of more foxes for the possible reduction of ring-tails.

In the Frankston City News, they reported: “Pet cats kill an estimated 600.000 animals each year including sugar gliders and ring-tail possums. Cats also impact heavily on frogs and lizards, This alarming figure does not include wildlife killed by feral cats. A feral cat kills between 5-30 animals each night”. Adding the predation by foxes exacerbates this disaster and could at least double these losses. Why then is it so urgent in this situation that “Ecosystems need predators” and especially so on our depleted peninsula. I believe that our wildlife needs urgent protection from predators instead.

It is not only predation by foxes and cats that is a concern. Foxes also spread the seeds of blackberry and bone-seed as well as the disease of mange, while cats disperse the disease called Toxoplasmosis which causes death to many native mammals. Thankfully, Jeff has mentioned some of this as well.

We should also not forget that ring-tail and brush-tail possums are an important and staple source of food for the locally endangered powerful owl.

If there is such a concerned that possum browsing will destroy all of the tree canopies and that swamp rats destroy orchids, it would be useful to have a clear and detailed action plan as to what exactly should be done and especially what type of predators we seem to need and how and where they should be employed. This was not spelled out clearly. I hope it does not also include the removal of under-story vegetation in order to provide easier access to ring-tail possums by foxes and cats as this would exacerbate the loss of even more native mammals, insects, birds and reptiles. It could, of course, provide extra habitat for swamp rats.

Ringtail_Possum._Brisbane

(image: Common ringtail possum in a Brisbane park)

However, this is the way it should remain: In “The men who blazed the track” they stated that “The land was then very heavily timbered , the trees being so densely grown that possums could run from tree to tree. Captain Balmain’s paddocks were then very thickly wooded. At Sandy Point you could not see daylight through the dense foliage” also, “There were hundreds of trees to the acre” and, “They hunted in the thick scrub”. So, why should we now suddenly have to remove the under-story when these trees were so healthy IN SPITE OF LOTS OF POSSUMS!!!!

If there is such a concern about the loss of trees on the peninsula through possum browsing, Jeff should instead recommend to have all of the thousands of pine trees replaced on the peninsula with types of eucalyptus trees, that are not too palatable for ring-tail possums.

Hans Brunner.

M. App. Sc. Deakin

Hansxx 

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New trade deal- kangaroo meat for Peru?

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This email has been sent to various government departments and officials in Peru, and continue to be sent.

Dear

Our organisation, Australian Wildlife Protection Council,  is concerned about the  new trade talks last month (May), to advance the Peru-Australia Free Trade Agreement (PAFTA) with the sale of kangaroo and beef.

Kangaroo Industry Association of Australia President Ray Borda said  the negotiations with Peru represented an “exciting opportunity” for kangaroo meat exports.  Yes, “exciting opportunity” to exploit one of our best-known iconic animals, kangaroos!  Not for their uniqueness as a endemic species, for their endurance and perfect adaption to our landscape, and their endearing qualities as our national icon, but purely as MEAT!

Borda states: “It’s fantastic, not only are they big meat eaters in Peru but all throughout South America and they love the taste of kangaroo…”.  Yes they are big meat-eaters, but they typically do NOT eat their own iconic species, Llamas and Alpacas! There were considered sacred animals, only to be sacrificed by the Incas for ceremonial purposes, and thus their consumption was sustainable!  Why should Peruvians eat our sacred national symbols?  Our Indigenous peoples did eat them, yes, but only at a subsistence level, not the massive export, global industrial levels now being proposed!

We implore you and your colleagues to reconsider this agreement, and the exploitation of our native kangaroos, our much-loved symbols of Australia.

Federal Member for Parkes, Mark Coulton said a key message from the Association was the impact of unsustainably high populations of kangaroos in the Western Division. The estimate population of roos in NSW in 2016 was 17.5 million. The Western Plains population was estimated to be 12.7 million.

So  how could numbers of kangaroos be unsustainable?  Just how does he come up with these questionable estimates of kangaroo populations?  Just how does he come to the conclusion that these numbers are “unsustainable”, and on what ecological rationale?  Historical evidence reveals high number of kangaroos and other macropods as being endemic to Australia, and they are not a danger to us, or the environment.

Where does Mark Coulton get his dubious and highly inflated figures from, and just how can they keep up with Peru’s high meat-eating demand, assuming they would be willing to eat our native animals?

Many myths and excuses have been spread to attempt to justify the commercial killing of kangaroos. They are often termed a ‘pest’, yet research has shown that they rarely venture onto wheat fields and do not compete for grazing with sheep. Another myth is the population explosion. Kangaroos are a slow-breeding marsupial with low reproductive rates. A kangaroo can only raise one joey to independence per year. The most ridiculous myth is that kangaroos damage the very environment that they have evolved over millions of years to live in.

Graziers want kangaroo numbers controlled, for their own vested interests. They want to maximise their profits, and not give any of their resources to mere native animals!  Animal welfare advocates oppose the slaughter as cruel, and say farmers need more support to manage kangaroos without killing – such as appropriate fencing.

Grazing pressure by kangaroos is only a small fraction of that of livestock.  Kangaroos only require a fraction of the food and water that livestock do and therefore culling and harvesting have little impact on livestock productivity (Grigg 2002; Munn et al. 2008).

Orphaned young are meant to be euthanised under methods outlined in the National Code of Practice for the Humane Shooting of Kangaroos and Wallabies. For furless pouch joeys, it’s a blow to the base of the skull or stunning, then decapitation. Furred joeys should be killed with a blow to the head, while at-foot joeys – out of the pouch, but dependent on their mothers – should be shot.  How is this humane?

Studies have found kangaroos contribute much less to grazing pressure than assumed and rarely visit crops or compete with sheep except when food is scarce.  Kangaroos have transitioned from being a “pest” to now a commercial opportunity!

We again implore you and your departments to think again about the viability, the humane factors and the offense to many Australians of Peruvians eating our national symbol- Kangaroos.   Please do what’s in your power to end this deal, and cancel the visas of those who are pushing this agenda.

Thank you

 

 

 

References:

http://www.farmonline.com.au/story/4684630/kangaroo-meat-seat-to-bounce-into-peru-via-new-trade-deal/

https://www.savethekangaroo.com/factsheet

http://www.nswnationals.org.au/roo_meat_to_peru_under_peru_australia_free_trade_agreement

http://www.naroomanewsonline.com.au/story/4064204/why-kangaroo-meat-is-dividing-the-nation/?cs=1237

http://thinkkangaroos.uts.edu.au/issues/total-grazing-pressure.html

 

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Our extinct Macropods – gone forever

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Six species of macropod are already extinct and a number of species listed as endangered or threatened.  European settlement of Australia has worked against the survival of many native animals, including some species of kangaroo, in four main ways: fire patterns have changed, domestic stock have grazed large areas of native habitat, new predators have been introduced, and land has been cleared.  Seven are endangered, and about 18 are vulnerable for near threatened.

Seventy-six macropod species are listed, or in the process of being listed, on the IUCN red-list. A total of forty-two of these species, or more than 50 per cent, are listed as threatened at some level.

The Desert Rat-kangaroo –

has not been seen since 1935 and is considered extinct.  They were found only in Australia in ranges that have been much reduced by colonisation and the introduction of European farming practices, especially sheep grazing.

Desert Rat-kangaroo

(image: John Gould, and H C Richter, lithograph)

Toolache Wallaby 

The species tend to rest in woodlands and then graze at night in adjacent grasslands or grassy patches in the forest.

ToolacheWallaby

(image: http://tatumcoachallen.pbworks.com/w/page/23008949/keeney%20Toolache%20Wallaby)

By 1910, populations had been reduced to a number of scattered colonies in the area enclosed by Robe, Kingston, and Beachport on the South Australian coast, and Naracoorte and Penola further to the east, near Mt Gambier. By 1924 only one small group was known to survive on Konetta Station, about halfway between Robe and Penola. An attempt was made to transfer some of the population to a sanctuary on Kangaroo Island, but this failed. The last known survivor died in captivity in Robe in 1939 (Flannery 1990d).

Although the Toolache Wallaby was hunted for its beautiful pelt and for sport, the biggest factor in its decline was the extensive opening up of its habitat that resulted from the drainage and clearing of native vegetation.

Hare-Wallabies

Hare-wallabies look a bit like European Hares.  This group has severely declined with three of the eight or 38 per cent of the hare wallabies extinct and the remaining five all threatened or near threatened.

They also have the European Hare’s habit of hiding in tufts of grass. There are five known species of hare-wallabies. Of these, the Eastern Hare-wallaby (Lagorchestes leporides) is already extinct, and the Central Hare-wallaby (Lagorchestes asomatus) possibly so. Only one species, the Spectacled Hare-wallaby (Lagorchestes conspicillatus) is still widespread. Hare-wallabies mostly prefer tropical plains and grassland.

Eastern Hare-wallaby

(image: Eastern Hare Wallaby John Gould and H C Richter, lithograph)

Crescent Nail-tail Wallaby

These wallabies are so named because of the horny spur they have at the end of their tails. There are three species of nail-tail wallabies.  The Crescent Nailtail Wallaby (O. lunata) is extinct.

nail-tailWallaby

(image: By John Gould – John Gould, F.R.S., Mammals of Australia, Vol. II Plate 55, London)

 This species was likely extirpated by predation from introduced foxes and cats. Habitat degradation, including changing fire regimes and the impact of rabbits and introduced stock, may have had an impact. In part of their range (south-western Western Australia and parts of New South Wales), pastoral expansion were likely to have been detrimental to the species.

 Bettongs

Of all 10 types of bettongs four are extinct, three are threatened and three are considered to be at low risk of extinction.  Two species, the Burrowing Bettong and Woylie (B. pencicillata), have been successfully reintroduced to large properties in their former range where they are protected by a boundary of predator-proof fencing.
The introduction of the red fox and European rabbit to Australia led to the extinction of the mainland subspecies of Eastern Bettongs during the 1920s.  The Tasmanian (or Eastern Bettong) was once present in both Tasmania and from South Australia to Queensland but is now extinct on mainland Australia.
bettong

Potoroos

Of all five types of potoroos, one species is extinct.

Gilbert’s Potoroo was thought to be extinct since the early 1900s. Then in 1994 they were rediscovered at Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve near Albany, Western Australia.

The Broad-faced Potoroo (extinct) was collected from the Western Australian wheatbelt and east of Albany. Fossil evidence suggests it was once distributed throughout much of semi-arid south-western Western Australia and coastal South Australia.  It was apparently extinct well before foxes arrived in Western Australia and before widespread land clearing. Its disappearance may have been due to predation by feral cats.

broadfacepotaroo

(image:  John Gould – “Mammals of Australia”, Vol. II Plate 70 http://museumvictoria.com.au/bioinformatics/mammals/images/Hyp_plat.htm)

Lesser Bilby

The Lesser bilby (macrotis leucura), also known as the yallara, the lesser rabbit-eared bandicoot, or the white-tailed rabbit-eared bandicoot.  Trappers, predators, including the Aboriginal population, and territorial competition from rabbits forced the lesser bilby into extinction before it could be fully studied.

Recorded as a living animal on just a handful occasions between its discovery in 1887 and its extinction in the 1950s.  Unlike the gentle and still surviving common bilby, it had a nasty temperament. It was said to be ‘fierce and intractable, and repulsed the most tactful attempts to handle them by repeated”.  Distribution: Central Australia. Last Record: 1950s.

Lesserbilby

European settlement of Australia, and the exotic predators and herbivores they brought with them, caused rapid widespread biodiversity loss. As a result, for the past 200 years Australia has had the highest mammal extinction rate in the world.

The Kangaroo Trail- rootourism

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