Australian Geographic – July-August 2019

Not pretty enough?

C

V

E

22 Australian Geographic

Vulnerable in NSW

Critically

endangered in NSW

Endangered in NSW

Conservation status key:

Nothing tugs at the heart strings quite like a cuddly koala or wombat joey, but few endangered

species are this adorable. Most are far less charismatic...by human standards.

PHOTO CREDITS, MAIN PHOTO: DUADE PATON. INSETS: COURTESY SAVING OUR SPECIES

Southern myotis

Scientific name: Myotis macropus

Conservation status: V

This flying mammal, Australia’s

only fishing bat species, hunts

across streams and pools for

insects and small fish by raking

its large feet across the water

surface. Microbats are

important for managing insects.

Spotted tree frog

Scientific name:Litoria spenceri

Conservation status: C

Some frogs are stunning colours;

then there’s the spotted tree

frog – brown and murky green.

It’s one of a growing number of

Australian amphibian species

facing an uncertain

future due to the

deadly chytrid

fungus.

W

hen it comes to
threatened
native species,
it’s usually our mammals
that compete most
successfully for our
attention and funding. But
for conservation to be
effective, whole communi-
ties of plants and animals
need protection. Unfortu-
nately, many species miss
out on vital support
because they don’t have
the ‘wow factor’ to make
people care enough to
want to save them. Each
state and territory has a
huge list of threatened
species: in New South
Wales alone there are
almost 1000. Shown here
are some you might not
know about, because they
haven’t been considered
interesting or ‘pretty’
enough to grab the
headlines. Others include
the broad-toothed rat,
Cumberland Plain land
snail, plains wanderer and
eastern bristlebird.

Look out for future AG
Society fundraising
efforts for some of these
precious species in
upcoming editions of
AUSTRALIAN GEOGRAPHIC.

Algae

Scientific name: Nitella parooensis

Conservation status: C

People see the word algae and

instantly lose interest. But this

species is particularly special

because it occurs only in a very

small part of the claypan

wetlands of north-western

NSW and nowhere else in the

world. It’s a short-lived annual

algae with roots and can grow

up to 10cm high.

Striped legless lizard

Scientific name: Delma impar

Conservation status: V

The legs of these lizards have

disappeared through evolution,

which allows them to move

with ease through grass. They

squeak a warning to each other

when threatened and can

escape ground-dwelling

predators by leaping (even

without legs) 30cm into the air.

Eastern curlew

Scientific name: Numenius

madagascariensis

Conservation status E

This is a large wading bird with

a long downward-curved black

bill coloured pink at the base. It

breeds in Russia and

north-eastern China but most

spend the non-breeding season

in northern, eastern and

south-eastern Australia,

feeding mainly on crustaceans.

The NSW Government is

aiming to secure these and

more than 900 other

threatened species in NSW

under its Saving our Species

program. savingourspecies@

environment.nsw.gov.au