For the first time in more than 50 years the Brushtailed Possum can be seen in the Flinders Ranges.

In May this year 79 possums – many with pouch young on board – were translocated from the Australian Wildlife Conservancy’s Yookamurra Sanctuary to Wilpena Pound and released into the wild.

Together with the Western Quoll, the return of the Brushtailed Possum is the beginning of what we hope will be the restoration of many of the original mammal species to the region.

The restoration of two important species - a top predator, and an important foliage eater and seed disperser - is a unique and ground-breaking achievement. Our project is attracting national attention, with at least one new plan to restore the Western Quoll to other parts of its original range now on the national threatened species agenda.

Possums in the Flinders like ducks to water

The possums in the Flinders are doing very well, with very few deaths so far and none that can be blamed on feral predators. It seems the possums, despite being raised in

a sanctuary with no predators at all, are so far managing to avoid the cats in the Flinders that are still taking quolls from time to time.

Feral Control supports increase in quoll numbers

Quoll numbers are increasing too, with the first photo of this year’s babies now available. Team member Pat was lucky enough to meet Ada (one of this year’s newly released female quolls) during routine trapping. Ada had beautiful babies with her when she was captured at her den site for a collar check. Pat was impressed by the sight and managed to take a photo for FAME.

Ada’s young, along with what we hope will be a bumper crop of some hundreds of other juvenile quolls, will be ready to leave their mothers by the time you read this article. If all goes well the population of Western Quoll in the Flinders Ranges will have moved from zero in early 2014 to hundreds of animals by Christmas. What a great Christmas gift to endangered wildlife.

FAME donors are directly responsible for the success so far of this wonderful wildlife restoration project. Stage 3: a final translocation of quolls, is due in Autumn next year. Sincere thanks to all the wonderful people who have given, and continue to give, to make it all possible.

Your gift to FAME will support the continuation of the Western Quoll and Brushtailed Possum Reintroduction to the Flinders Ranges.

Brushtailed Possums come home to join Western Quolls in the Flinders Ranges

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2015 Issue 02 NewsletterLeft: 2015 juvenile Western Quoll (Ada’s baby). Below: Brushtailed Possums are happily settling into their ‘old’ home in the Flinders Ranges.

Why not consider an extra donation to FAME as a gift to family or friends this festive season? Email fame@fame.org.au or phone 08 8374 1744 and we’ll send a greeting card, featuring a pic of Ada’s baby (above) to someone you love.

WHAT’S INSIDE…• Wildlife of the Flinders

Ranges in the 21st century• Sporting Shooters form

Quoll Protection Team• Tier Gear supports FAME• Wildlife Wonderland at

Mt Rothwell• Feral Cats or Wildlife?• Disappearing Reptiles

Photo: Hannah BannisterPhoto: Pat Hodges

FAME NEWSLETTERis published by the Foundation for Australia’s Most Endangered Species Ltd ABN 79 154 823 579PO Box 482 MITCHAM South Australia 5062Tel: 08 8374 1744 Email: fame@fame.org.au Web: www.fame.org.auArticles in this publication can be reproduced with acknowledgement.

Photo: Ron Knight (CC-by-2.0)

Wildlife of the Flinders Ranges in the 21st Century(referencing the Biological Database of SA and DEWNR’s species conservation assessments)

BIRDS: Over 190 species in the central and northern Flinders Ranges, three of national conservation significance and one, the Flinders Ranges Short-tailed Grasswren, is unique to this region.

REPTILES: 87, including the Red-barred Dragon that is unique to the ranges plus six frog species.

MAMMALS: Of an original 54 native species, only twenty-eight have been recorded since 1970. Three including the Yellow-footed Rock Wallaby are of national conservation significance. Returning the nationally vulnerable Western Quoll and Brushtail

Possum to the region will bring this list to thirty. The loss of mammal species from the ranges has been attributed to habitat change from livestock and rabbit grazing plus the impact of introduced predators. Whilst these pressures are still present introduced pest management since the 1990’s has reduced the impact on rock wallabies and is enabling the reintroduction of other midsized mammals.

INTRODUCED MAMMALS: nine, not including domestic stock or dogs. The Dingo is officially described as an introduced species (despite having been in Australia for over 3000 years) and is now considered rare in the region.

NOTE: Establishing the number of species in a region is often an inexact science: anecdotal reports can be misleading, and ecologists can only record what they actually see at any given time. This tends to result in under-reporting. From time to time new surveys discover previously unknown species, and other species may vary in their range due to unusual circumstances or changes in e.g. climate over time.

Clockwise from top left: Flinders Ranges Short-tailed Grass Wren; Red-barred dragon; Echidna; Yellow Foot Rock Wallaby.

Photo: Atlas of Living AustraliaPhoto: Sarah Bennett

Photo: JKMelville (CC-by-SA-4.0)

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TIER GEAR supports FAME Tier Gear is a Tasmanian based online outdoor equipment specialist that develops and supplies:

1. DIY gear for people to make, modify or repair their own outdoor gear

2. Lightweight hiking gear

3. Camping hammocks and accessories including manufacturing their own range of hammocks and tarps in Tasmania. There are new products in development all the time.

Simon McGuire from Tier Gear says: “I have always had a connection with the bush and enjoy getting outside as much as possible, though don’t do it nearly as often as I would like these days. Now that I have children it’s about leading by example in the hope that when my kids grow up they will have similar values and work towards making positive contributions to the world in which we live, regardless of how small that contribution may seem.”

All the products Simon develops will be named after an endangered or vulnerable Australian animal and a percentage of the sales from these items will go to an organisation which assists in some way in the preservation of that species.

Simon has just developed a tarp named the Woylie and an under quilt for hammocks named the Quoll. Because we assist in the preservation of both the Quoll and the Woylie a percentage of the price of these products will be donated to FAME.

Thanks Simon and Tier Gear. It’s great to have your support. The least we can do in exchange is to encourage our friends to visit your site if they are looking for outdoor equipment.

Why not have a Woylie or a Quoll in your equipment cupboard? Visit www.tiergear.com.au for information.

Quoll Protection a perfect match for Sporting ShootersSporting Shooters Association of Australia’s Conservation & Wildlife Management (SA) was formed 23 years ago to assist conservation programs in the Northern Flinders Ranges (Gammon Ranges/Vulkathunha and Flinders Ranges National Parks) - a project that became the highly successful “Operation Bounceback”.

Thanks to Bounceback, the removal of tens of thousands of feral goats has seen the resurgence of native fauna and flora, including the iconic but endangered Yellow Footed Rock Wallaby. The Conservation & Wildlife Management group has continue to expand its activities to numbers of other National Parks and Conservation reserves, supporting efforts to protect native species ranging from Wombats to Malleefowl.

One such program was the Flinders Feral Predator Program targeting feral cats and foxes. It aimed not just to remove these pests, but also to collect research data by monitoring numbers and density and collecting samples for examination of stomach contents.

SSAA – C&WM (SA) were delighted when asked to become involved in the project to reintroduce Western Quolls and Brush Tailed Possums to the Flinders Ranges: a perfect match with our charter. In fact our national body (Sporting Shooters Association of Australia) has also come on board, providing a substantial financial grant to the project.

Feral cats are the greatest risk to the new arrivals. Our role is to reduce the numbers of these efficient killers in and around quoll and possum release sites. An activity plan developed with the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources (DEWNR) covers all operational and

safety details. This involves a program of 3 nights of spotlighting using teams of three volunteers (driver/record keeper, spotlighter and shooter). We aim to find the cats, GPS their location and eliminate them wherever possible.

Our first foray was a total of 22 hours of spotlighting. Surprisingly – compared to previous FFPP programs – we found just 7 cats and they were very cautious, to say the least. Only two were shot, both large male animals, the ones that will target the quolls and can kill numbers in a short time. We are actually very happy with the low numbers as that is the objective. It confirms data from monitoring cameras set up in the area, and anecdotal observation from DEWNR staff and the reintroduction team. Our next round is in mid-November where we will be expanding the area covered. As the quolls go forth and multiply, we will be there to protect them.

Tony Judd President, SSAA – Conservation & Wildlife Management Branch (SA)

Editors Note: FAME is convinced that working with Sporting Shooters to reduce the numbers of feral predators is a great way to utilise the skills and goodwill of these dedicated people. It’s not our preference to destroy life, but as I’ve said elsewhere in these pages when it comes to a choice between quolls and cats, there is no choice. And if it has to be done, a clean shot is a better death than almost anything else.

FAME thanks the SSAA Conservation and Wildlife Management Branch for giving animals like quolls, possums and wallabies on the brink of extinction a much stronger chance of long term survival, and for supporting our quoll and possum reintroduction.

Photo © Lochman Transparencies

Photo © Lochman Transparencies

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Next Phase for Brush-tailed Rock Wallabies

WILDLIFE WONDERLANDAT MT ROTHWELL

Mt Rothwell Eastern Barred Bandicoot population the largest on mainland Australia.In a remarkable achievement and testament to the benefit of a feral-free environment for vulnerable small mammals, the Mt Rothwell population of Eastern Barred Bandicoots is now the longest standing – and largest - free-range population on mainland Australia.

Mt Rothwell’s bandicoots have learned, over several generations (they were first established with FAME’s help in 2004) vital survival techniques including how to hide from aerial predators, compete with hundreds of other animals for food, out run nocturnal carnivorous marsupials such as quolls, and construct sturdy nests to protect them from rain, wind, scorching sun and the odd stomping kangaroo.

These canny bandicoots have also learnt to avoid monitoring traps so Mt Rothwell staff have used camera surveys, spotlight counts, distance sampling and line transects to estimate the size of the population. The

final estimate last winter - a whopping 1153 animals - means Mt Rothwell has 83% of all Eastern Barred Bandicoots on mainland Australia.

This number was 3 times the previous population estimation and may have to be revised upward again due to another great breeding season, with what looks like hundreds of stripy little baby bandicoots being seen in recent months.

This is terrific news for the species, and means that Mt Rothwell can now provide some of their bandicoots as founders to establish new colonies such as on 57 hectare Churchill Island, east of Phillip Island in Victoria’s Western Port Bay. Churchill has been selected as an island ‘ark’ for the species, and is free of cats and foxes.

Sixteen bandicoots, half from Mt Rothwell, were recently released on Churchill Island.

Great habitat, including native woodlands, grasslands and agricultural land, will provide good nesting and food sources, but the animals will be closely monitored to ensure that the population does not outgrow the approximately one bandicoot per hectare that is considered to be sustainable.

As Mt Rothwell is seeing, these animals can breed large numbers in a short time. They produce young year-round in good conditions, and have a gestation period of just 12.5 days.

With continued success at Mt Rothwell and on Churchill populations may soon be established on other feral free islands, bringing great hope for a more secure future for the Eastern Barred Bandicoot and its ultimate removed from the endangered species list.

Mt Rothwell has embarked on a complicated breeding and animal transfer program for the critically endangered Southern Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby. With a severely limited gene pool, it is vital for healthy long term survival that maximum genetic diversity is obtained in animals destined to help re-establish the species.

In a program designed in collaboration with Dr Andrew West from cesar (responsible for the genetic management of Mountain Pygmy Possums that resulted in a tripling of that population), Rock Wallabies are now being out-bred across animals sourced from a number of remnant populations to produce a generation of stronger, fitter, healthier and smarter animals.

Specific areas at Mt Rothwell have been set aside for particular aspects of the breeding program, but the population of the central population on the Eastern side of the granite outcrops is estimated to be up to 250. The hunt is on for safe new homes or release sites for some of these animals.

How nice to have too many of an endangered species! It’s a far cry from 2004, when a small group of Brush-tailed Rock Wallabies from Kawau Island off the coast of New Zealand were rescued from certain death by FAME and Waterfall Springs Conservation Park and 8 were transferred to the safety of Mt Rothwell. At a time when fewer than 20 Victorian Brush Tails had survived wild fires and other threats, those 8 formed the nucleus of a new beginning for the species in Victoria. With wallabies now being counted in their hundreds, Mt Rothwell is having a fantastic impact on the survival of some of Australia’s most endangered species.

Photo: Mt Rothwell

Photo: Mt Rothwell

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MT ROTHWELL’S CONSERVATION PROGRAMS GO FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH

Exciting news for mainland Eastern QuollsMt Rothwell has initiated the establishment of an official Eastern Quoll Mainland Recovery Team (EQMRT). The team is made up of various institutions, specialists and scientists from Victoria, Canberra, NSW and Tasmania.

The short term objective is to establish a genetically robust captive population; mid-term the objective is to expand the population in feral predator free sites to reach a target of 500 animals. The long term goal is to re-establish Eastern Quolls in the wild on the mainland to restore them in their important ecological role as a natural predator.

All Eastern Quolls in mainland breeding institutions associated with the Recovery Team have been genotyped and breeding/pairing recommendations were given by Dr Andrew Weeks (cesar). New stock has been supplied via the Tasmanian Quoll Conservation Program (TQCP) and there is lots of evidence that the Mt Rothwell animals have been busy breeding this season.

Quolls roaming free across Mt Rothwell’s 480 hectare site were captured regularly on

remote sensor cameras gathering nesting hay during the early breeding season this year. Rabbit numbers have been drastically reduced at Mt Rothwell thanks to the combined efforts of a rabbit-detecting dog and a pair of specially introduced Spotted

Tailed Quolls. Like Western Quolls in the Flinders Ranges, Eastern Quolls are quick to take advantage of vacant rabbit warrens to build their nurseries.

By the time you read this article this season’s wild-born young will be out and about at Mt Rothwell, delighting staff and visitors alike.

Approximately 30 young produced this year in Mt Rothwell’s captive breeding program are destined for release next year at Mulligans Flat Sanctuary in the ACT. Genetic analysis of those little pioneers will ensure the right mix of animals are selected as founders. Mt Rothwell’s Manager Annette Rypalski has been appointed convenor of the project, with the blessing of federal Threatened Species Commissioner Gregory Andrews, and will provide guidance and assistance to ensure project objectives are met.

WILDLIFE WONDERLANDAT MT ROTHWELL

WILDLIFE WONDERLANDAT MT ROTHWELL

Mt Rothwell expands with new programs, species and protected areas

Spot Tailed Quolls keep rabbit numbers downFollowing a trial release of 3 male Spot Tailed Quolls (to manage possums that were damaging Mt Rothwell’s 200 year old Red Box trees) it was found that although the dominant Spot Tailed Quoll occasionally takes a possum, rabbits are proving to be the target of choice.

Rabbits are Mt Rothwell’s biggest problem and there is a plan to completely remove them, including the recent release of two more male quolls. Rabbits have been removed from approximately 20 hectares so far, although it’s difficult since rabbits share warrens and holes with bandicoots, quolls and even bettongs, snakes and possums. Along with the Spot Tails, Mt Rothwell uses conservation canines (border collie/kelpie/koolie cross dogs) who are trained to detect only rabbits within rabbit fenced sites. Mt Rothwell’s dogs catch on average 40 rabbits in 4 hours.

Dingoes part of Mt Rothwell’s rabbit eradication programMt Rothwell is experimenting with building on the incredible success of domestic dogs as rabbit hunters by applying the same concept to purebred Dingoes. Dingos have the advantage of heightened senses (great eye sight and smell, enormous ears, long large snouts) and incredible intelligence.

It’s challenging work bonding, playing and teaching basic tricks to 16 week old puppies but with the assistance of Canidae Development Mt Rothwell’s Dingoes are passing all tests and overcoming all challenges. They are in fact learning much faster than domestic dogs, and Annette Rypalski, Mt Rothwell’s Manager, tells FAME that they are quietly hopeful of reaching the conservation targets set for the Dingoes at the Sanctuary.

Tiverton enables expansion of populations of endangered speciesMt Rothwell is looking to the future, and with the acquisition of “Tiverton”, a 900ha sister property, will soon expand its programs and wildlife populations. Mt Rothwell is currently Victoria’s largest feral fenced grassland conservation site, but that title will pass to Tiverton where pristine Basalt Grasslands will see Eastern Quoll, Eastern Barred Bandicoots and possibly other critically endangered Basalt Grassland species established in coming months and years. A feral proof fence will be erected around the property and encompass not only the endangered grassland habitats but also 3 wetlands where breeding Brolgas have been unsuccessfully raising chicks because of fox predation. Apart from protecting Mt Rothwell’s precious mammals, the fence will ensure future Brolga chicks survive to adulthood.

Photo: Mt Rothwell

Photo: Mt Rothwell Photo: Arian Wallach Photo: Mt Rothwell

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Feral Cats Or Wildlife? The Choice Is ClearFrom the Editor’s Desk

A lot of fuss has been generated around the issue of feral cats since the National Feral Cat Workshop in April and the Threatened Species Summit in July. The main focus at the Summit was the feral cat in Australia (yes, other countries have feral cats too!) and the damage it does to our wildlife.

This issue has moved a long way since Dr John Wamsley controversially wore a hat made from the skins of feral cats in the 60’s and 70’s. He

motivated outrage by stating that:

• Feral cats and foxes are the main reason many endangered species are disappearing and

• Vulnerable wildlife needs only a safe area of natural habitat to survive and thrive.

Dr John received death threats and his sanctuaries – full of the wonderful little animals he loved and surrounded by feral-proof fences – were targeted by vandals and even had cats thrown over the fences to undermine his work.

Nowadays few people question the wisdom of these matters. Cats are not in danger of extinction, but we know we are losing native species faster than anywhere else on earth and there are millions of foxes and cats in the Australian bush killing wildlife every single night.

Why can’t we find a balance? Why can’t people who love cats realise domestic cats are safer and healthier if they are kept inside and prevented not only from killing birds and animals but also from fighting and breeding uncontrollably?

If cat owners took responsibility for their domestic pets our chances of controlling the feral version would be a whole lot easier. As it is, wildlife workers are forced to choose between our and the feral invader.

Several new feral cat control techniques are outlined on these pages. FAME supports two of these and we are grateful for the support of donors who want their donations used specifically for this purpose.

Feral cats are in the spotlight with the release of a feral cat mapping and reporting app called FeralCatScan officially launched as part of the Threatened Species Summit (reproduced from the web site of the Invasive Species).

The app was developed by the Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre with funding support from the Australian Government Department of the Environment.

Peter West, project officer for development of the app, said, “The purpose of FeralCatScan is to provide the community and land managers with a tool for real-time reporting of feral cats, any management activities undertaken, photos of impacts and, most importantly, using that collective information to identify practical solutions to the feral cat problem.”

“Feral cats are a nation-wide issue needing collective community effort to manage. We are never going to eradicate cats, but we can reduce the impacts on wildlife by ensuring management is done efficiently, effectively and humanely in areas where feral cats are having the most impact on wildlife.”

“Anyone can use the app or website to record feral cat activity and it is really easy to use. If you have seen a feral cat lately then I encourage you to record it in FeralCatScan,” he said.

The app is also able to be used in the field where mobile reception may be unreliable by storing feral cat records until mobile coverage is available.

Andrew Triggs, Acting Manager of Planning and Adaptive Management with the South Australian Government on Kangaroo Island, has been trialling the app as a feral cat management, planning and reporting tool.

“On Kangaroo Island it has been found that feral cats eat a total of 50 different bird, mammal, reptile and frog species. They also spread diseases to livestock and wildlife. The impact on a small island like this can be substantial.”

“This app will help us in a practical way to strategically identify feral cat hotspots on the island and plan management activities to protect wildlife and agriculture.”

The app is part of the FeralScan suite of app products and is free to download on the App Store for Apple iOS and Google Play for Android mobile devices. See details at www.feralcatscan.org.au.

Threatened Species Summit recognises potential in computerised cat control device.

The device known up until now as the ‘feral cat groomer’ (a suitable commercial name is being developed) has been recognised by the federal Environment Department and provided with a grant of $100,000 to continue its development.

FAME recently provided $20,000 to designer Dr John Read to help the device through the early development stage and we are delighted its potential has been further recognised, endorsing our confidence and our investment.

The ‘groomer’ takes advantage of the cat’s natural instinct to lick itself clean when any foreign substance sticks to its fur. When placed where feral cats are known to be present the device recognises the cat as target and spits a lethal amount of a toxic substance onto the animal as it passes. The cat then ingests the substance when cleaning its fur, and then goes to sleep – for good.

This is a complicated device, with many parts that must function in the bush under a range

WORKSHOP OUTCOMES GUIDE FERAL CAT CONTROL ACTIONManaging the impacts of feral cats is a challenging task” said Andreas Glanznig, the CEO of Australia’s Invasive Animals CRC. “The outcomes from the workshop are an excellent statement of what we currently know about managing feral cats and, more importantly, where we need to go in the future to ensure the survival of many of Australia’s threatened species.”

Feral cats are a major driver of extinction of Australian native wildlife. More than 75 species are currently under threat from predation by feral cats. There are very few techniques available that can be used to control them over broad areas.

As well as being a threat to native wildlife, the workshop showed that feral cats also impact on agricultural production. They carry parasites that can cause diseases such as toxoplasmosis and sarcosporidiosis in livestock, which then impacts on farm productivity.

“Managing feral cats is no longer just the concern of government conservation departments. Many nongovernment organisations are managing the impacts of feral cats on their reserves and actively being involved and collaborating in research on better ways to effectively manage feral cats” said Mr Glanznig.

The outcomes of the National Feral Cat Workshop (funded by the Federal Department of the Environment) have been published by the Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre and can be downloaded at http://www.pestsmart.org.au/2015-national-feral-cat-management-workshop-proceedings/

Photo: Brisbane City Council (CC-by-2.0)

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DISAPPEARING REPTILES

of sometimes extreme circumstances, but the overall objective is to produce a tool for wildlife managers that is not only efficient and humane, but affordable enough to be widely distributed and used.

Field trials of the device are underway, and results are extremely encouraging.

Toxic Trojans will tackle the biggest killers.

Among the more alarming things learned via observation and monitoring of the reintroduced Western Quolls in the Flinders Ranges is that male feral cats, some as large as 6kg, are responsible for the majority of quoll deaths.

Once they make their first kill these cats

begin to specifically hunt quolls and are then responsible for multiple deaths.

Project ambassador Dr David Peacock believes that if each quoll had been fitted with a small insert of inert toxic material (designed to dissolve in the stomach of the predator) before release the cat making its first kill would also die, and those extra quolls would still be alive.

A simple calculation tells us that if six of the dozen or so animals killed by feral cats out of the first batch of quolls were female and had survived, between them they would have produced around 30 young. These young quolls would in turn have survived to breed in the 2015 season, meaning that hundreds

of extra quolls would now be populating the Flinders.

The insert would be most useful where wildlife is translocated and released into new territory, but could provide an important survival boost in the vulnerable early stages of such projects.

Dr Peacock’s Toxic Trojan insert is now in development at Adelaide University, with FAME’s financial assistance.

Cheryl Hill, Editor and CEO

Australian Sea Snakes: when is extinction not extinction?Sea snakes are little known to most of us. They are fascinating creatures, highly venomous, and are a key part of marine ecosystems. They live in shallow water around reefs, breathe using lungs not gills, and mostly feed on fish and eels. Sea snakes are themselves eaten by a range of predators such as sea eagles and large fish.

One species of Australian sea snake is classified as vulnerable, another endangered, and two species critically endangered according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Ashmore Reef Marine Park, off the northern coast of Australia, has numerous sea snake species, at least two of which are presumed extinct. The reason for these extinctions is not yet known, and may in fact be a false alarm.

According to Kate Sanders, Tina Schroeder, Michael Guinea and Arne Rasmussen*, the critically endangered leaf-scaled (Aipysurus foliosquamaI) and short-nosed

(A. apraefrontalis) sea snakes, till recently only found on Ashmore and Hibernia reefs 600km off the north west coast of Australia, may not be extinct at all. Several other recently recognised populations offer hope for the survival of both species.

Steep population declines in both species on Ashmore and Hibernia were documented over 15 years and neither has been sighted since 2001. However, Sanders et al conclude:

“The newly recognised populations present another chance for leaf-scaled and short-nosed sea snakes, but coastal habitats in northwest Australia are widely threatened by

infrastructure developments and sea snakes are presently omitted from environmental impact assessments for industry.

Further studies are urgently needed to assess these species’ remaining distributions, population structure, and extent of occurrence in protected areas.”

*From an article in the February 2015 edition of PLOS ONE, a research publication that allows reproduction of articles in full or in part, according to the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.

Photo: Andrew Cook

Photo: Pat HodgensAbove: It’s vital for the future of quolls and other wildlife in the Flinders Ranges that feral cat numbers are reduced as far as possible.

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DISAPPEARING REPTILESDecline of Tiger Snakes reflects a growing problem for Australian reptilesTiger snakes (Notechis scutatus) were once the largest cause of snake bite and snake bite death in Australia and before antivenom was available, about 40% of all tiger snake bites were fatal. Today, tiger snake bites and deaths have been surpassed by the brown snake genus Pseudonaja. The brown snake seems to be a little better at coping with degraded habitats than the tiger snake.

Over the last 20 years it has become evident that tiger snakes on mainland Australia are disappearing at an alarming rate. Whilst their populations on offshore islands appear stable, it is increasingly clear that mainland populations are disappearing. As an example, consider the tiger snakes from the lower lakes and that part of the Murray River in South Australia – Lake Alexandrina and Lake Albert and environs.

The Diagram shows the rapid decline of tiger snakes from the Milang area in the last 65 years. There have been no scientific studies carried out on this decline so we can only speculate as to the causes. Tiger snakes are heavily reliant on frogs, especially for recruitment, and frogs are declining. The regulation and reduction of water flows in the River Murray is a serious threat to amphibians. This problem is coupled with a multitude of other threats such as introduced weeds,

pesticides and herbicides, feral animals such as foxes, cats, European Carp and other exotic fish, habitat loss and decline of water quality associated with agriculture and salinity increase.

On the positive side, we have seen a major increase and interest in native vegetation restoration which will be of some assistance in saving tiger snakes although it won’t be enough on its own.

Action to arrest the decline of tiger snakes and frogs is needed, including:

• stablising river flows to coincide with normal flood and drought cyclescontrol of the use of pesticides and herbicides near water

• serious reduction of feral animals, especially feral cats

• studies to determine the best ways to eradicate or control weeds such as the couch grass currently choking many littoral habitats (shore areas) of the lower lakes.

Peter Mirtschin Director, Venom Science Pty Ltd

Peter Mirtschin is a passionate conservationist and would like to see more effort put into controlling threats to the survival of wildlife.Peter studied snakes for about 45 years and established Venom Supplies Pty Ltd, a major supplier of Australian and exotic snake venoms and toxins throughout the world, in South Australia in the 1980’s.Over the years Peter has contributed to numerous scientific projects, many of which resulted in publications. He has published a number of books on snakes and many scientific papers on snakes and venoms.Peter is now retired but continues his scientific studies and is currently writing a new version of Dangerous Snakes of Australia with Bill Nimorakiotakis from Melbourne. Venom Supplies has been leased and continues to provide the same services.

Christmas Island Forest Skink follows Pipistrelle into extinctionIt’s just come to our attention that Australia has recorded what is thought to be the first known extinction of a native reptile since European colonisation – the Christmas Island Forest Skink.

The last of these reptiles died in 2014, with no fanfare, and less than five months after the decline of the species was recognised via inclusion on the list of endangered Australian animals.

According to online publication ‘the Conversation’ https://theconversation.com/vale-gump-the-last-known-christmas-island-forest-skink-30252 by John Woinarski, Don Driscoll and Hal Cogger, Forest Skinks were ‘common and widespread on Christmas Island’ until the late 1990s.

Thereafter a rapid decline resulted in extinction, ‘preceded by an eerily similar pattern of decline and extinction (in 2009) for the Christmas Island Pipistrelle, the most recent Australian mammal known to have become extinct.’

The Blue-tailed Skink and Lister’s Gecko are also endangered on Christmas Island and sadly, as you’ll see in these pages, other Australian reptile species are also declining.

The authors of the Conversation article are hopeful that the legacy of the extinction of the Forest Skink is a renewed push to prevent any more extinctions of Australian wildlife. And they are right, the extinction of any species should be so shocking that it acts as a spur to efforts to prevent further extinctions.

The first step in preventing extinction is recognition of the problem followed by a national plan with sufficient resources to reach the desired outcome.

Reptiles are not cute and cuddly and many people would not notice or care if they

disappeared. It’s easy for animals and plants that are unknown and un-loved to disappear without a ripple, like the Forest Skink and the Pipistrelle have done, and frustrating that the information about when, why and how they disappeared is so hard to find.

From FAME’s perspective the responsibility to preserve a species is not so much about its appeal as it is about preserving a group of animals with a crucial role in our environment. Some of us also feel that there is a moral imperative to do everything possible to prevent the loss of a living creature.

Snakes and lizards have a job to do. They should be protected, their habitat preserved, and public education issued to encourage understanding and support for their survival.

Photo: National Parks

Photo and graph: Peter Mirtschin

The decline of tiger snakes in the Milang area in South Australia over the last 65 years. The figures, whilst they would not withstand the rigours of scientific assessment, are all we have to make comparisons. They predict tiger snakes will disappear from this area sometime in the near future.

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