Biodiversity Month, held every September, is an opportunity to celebrate Australia’s spectacular native flora and fauna. However, it’s also a stark reminder of our ~1,800 native plant and animal species currently facing extinction.
Of these, some 100 are mammals and on the brink of disappearing forever. Unless we take urgent action, they are set to join the 10 per cent of Australia’s mammal species to have gone extinct since European settlement.
This is the worst rate of recent mammal extinctions in the world, but what has brought us to this point? Key drivers include habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation, the impact of feral herbivores and other invasive species, altered fire regimes, and – above all – predation by feral cats and foxes.
But there is hope.
Against all odds, populations of some species cling to survival by a thread. Protected from feral predators by specially designed conservation fences they’ve been shown to thrive; others benefit from science-informed conservation land management aimed at tackling key threats like wildfires, weeds and feral herbivores.
The data is clear: it’s not too late to reverse Australia’s extinction rate – but the window of opportunity is closing.
With your help, we can halt Australia’s mammal extinctions and successfully restore wild, self-sustaining populations of threatened and locally extinct wildlife back to the Australian landscape.
Here are ten examples of the incredible impact your support is having in the field, helping to pull our most vulnerable native species back from the brink of extinction.
(Macrotis lagotis) | Vulnerable
Brad Leue/AWCBilbies were once widespread across arid and semi-arid Australia, occupying around 70 per cent of the continent. Cats and foxes have had a catastrophic impact on the species, which has disappeared from over 80 per cent of its former range.
We protect Bilbies in large feral predator-free areas at our , , and Wildlife Sanctuaries, and at and , in partnership with the NSW Government.
Within a decade, we aim to protect more than 5,000 Bilbies.
(Lagorchestes hirsutus) | Endangered
Wayne Lawler/AWCMala were once widespread and abundant across much of semi-arid Australia, but sadly went extinct in the wild in the 90s. Today, Mala survive only on one feral predator-free island and behind conservation fences.
We’ve returned at our Newhaven Wildlife Sanctuary in central Australia. In 2020, we moved the last of Scotia Wildlife Sanctuary’s ‘insurance’ Mala back to this historic homeland, bringing us one step closer to our goal of establishing a wild, self-sustaining and genetically diverse population here.
Over time, we estimate Newhaven will be home to 18,000 wild Mala.
(Phascogale calura) | Vulnerable
Brad Leue/AWCRed-tailed Phascogales were once found throughout much of arid and semi-arid Australia but are now extinct across 99 per cent of their former range, restricted to remnant patches of bushland in south-west WA. It is unknown how many still exist.
We’ve and Mt Gibson Wildlife Sanctuaries, as well as Mallee Cliffs ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Park, in partnership with the NSW Government.
(Myrmecobius fasciatus) | Endangered
Wayne Lawler/AWCNumbats were once found across much of arid and semi-arid southern Australia, but today only two naturally occurring populations remain, both in south-west WA.
We protect around 40 per cent of the entire Numbat population within large, feral predator-free fenced areas at our Scotia, Yookamurra and Mt Gibson Wildlife Sanctuaries as well as Mallee Cliffs ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Park and at Newhaven Wildlife Sanctuary.
New projects are expected to see Numbat numbers double in coming years.
(Onychogalea fraenata) | Endangered
Wayne Lawler/AWCThe Bridled Nailtail Wallaby was believed to be extinct for much of the 20th century, until the chance discovery of a surviving population in 1973.
We reintroduced a population to our Scotia Wildlife Sanctuary in 2005, and to improve the genetic diversity of the population. The initial reintroduction at Scotia was followed by the , in partnership with the NSW Government.
Under the same partnership, plans are now underway to reintroduce the species to Mallee Cliffs ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Park.
(Dasyurus geoffroii) | Vulnerable
Brad Leue/AWCWestern Quolls were once present in a wide variety of habitats across nearly 70 per cent of the Australian mainland. They are now found only in in the south-western corner of WA, where their distribution is patchy.
We currently protect this species at our and Wildlife Sanctuaries. In 2023, we continued to raise the bar for rewilding projects in Australia, with the . The quoll is the tenth species released at the sanctuary for reintroduction, the greatest number of species ever restored to a single conservation site in Australia.
In partnership with the NSW Government, we have plans to return the species to Mallee Cliffs ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Park and Pilliga Conservation Area.
(Sminthopsis aitkeni) | Endangered
Brad Leue/AWCExtensive wildfires in late 2019 and early 2020 burnt 95 per cent of the (already endangered) Kangaroo Island Dunnart’s habitat, bringing the species dangerously close to extinction.
In response, we’ve been working with local landholders and conservation organisation, , to protect one of the surviving populations. The initial stage of the project – removing feral predators and enclosing 13.8 hectares of critical refuge – was completed in February 2020. , officially launched in 2021, now includes a 369-hectare, fenced, feral predator-free safe haven which protects a suite of endemic and endangered wildlife.
(Leporillus conditor) | Vulnerable
Brad Leue/AWCGreater Stick-nest Rats were driven to extinction on mainland Australia, clinging to survival in a single population on the Franklin Islands, South Australia. A captive breeding program was established in 1985, and the species was subsequently released on a number of offshore islands.
As numbers have steadily built up, Greater Stick-nest Rats have been reintroduced to several mainland predator-free fenced areas – including at our Mt Gibson Wildlife Sanctuary in 2011. This population was supplemented with four other translocations from 2015 to 2019.
Additionally, in September 2020, we returned Greater Stick-nest Rats to mainland Australia’s largest (9,570 hectares) feral predator-free area at Mallee Cliffs ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Park, in partnership with the
(Bettongia penicillata ogilbyi) | Endangered
Wayne Lawler/AWCWoylies were once abundant across much of Australia but have been brought close to extinction, mainly due to predation by feral cats and foxes. Remnant populations persisted in south-west WA, but in the last two decades these have crashed from an estimated 200,000 individuals to fewer than 20,000 individuals.
We protect Woylies across five of our wildlife sanctuaries – , Karakamia, Scotia, Yookamurra and Mt Gibson. AWC monitoring and research continue to confirm that the species is .
Following careful planning we, in partnership with the NSW ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Parks and Wildlife Service, also successfully released Woylies at in 2021, and in 2022 at .
(Isoodon auratus) | Vulnerable
Tom Sayers/AWCThe Golden Bandicoot used to be one of the most common small mammals in the arid zone. The species was once found across mainland Australia but is now listed as ‘vulnerable’ with a highly fragmented distribution.
Primarily found on offshore islands of WA and the NT, the north-west Kimberley, including , is host to the only remaining natural mainland population. The decline from 95% of its former range is believed to be due to predation by feral cats and foxes and altered fire regimes after colonisation.
In August 2023, , reintroducing the culturally significant bandicoot – known as pakuru in the local Warlpiri language – to Newhaven Wildlife Sanctuary after an almost 60-year absence.
How can you help?
With your support, the AWC conservation model of science-led private land management – delivered both alone and in partnership across more than 6.8 million hectares – continues to deliver positive conservation outcomes for Australia’s most at-risk mammal species.
But we cannot fulfil our mission alone. Please click the link below to explore our conservation projects and find out more about donating to AWC.
