Endangered Species in Australia

Australia accounts for nearly 10% of the world’s biodiversity. The unique diversity of Australia’s fauna population consists of mammals, reptiles, fish, insects, and amphibians. Australia holds the greatest diverse population of marsupials. More than a million unique species are native to Australia. Out of 378 mammals more than 80% are exclusive to Australia. Out of 869 reptiles, only 96 can be found outside of Australia.

According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, Australia has the highest number of extinct species. Making it the country with the most endangered species in the world. There are a total of 427 endangered or threatened fauna in Australia. The impact of human activity, changes in landscape, and in habitat play a role in endangering these species.

Climate change, habitat destruction, invasive weeds, and feral animals threaten 20% of Australia’s animal population with extinction. Chemicals such as pesticides or those that get into the water endanger animals within or around the water. Pollution is a dynamic factor in plants and animals being endangered. These following resources provide information on species threatened or endangered and the reasons they are endangered.

• Australian Endangered Animals: Explains all the types of endangered animals in Australia.
• Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act: A list of endangered and threatened species. The list includes common names and the effective date the species became endangered.
• Endangered: Describes all the endangered, critically endangered, and extinct species with fact sheets for each species. 
• Australian Species and Climate: An explicit look at the effect climate change has on endangered mammals.
• Red List: The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources red list of endangered and threatened species of Australia.
• Threatened Species: Features fact sheets on vertebrates and invertebrates on the threatened animal list.
• Mammals: A list of endangered mammal species along with common names.
• Critically Endangered: List of critically endangered birds accompanied by scientific and common names.
• Threatened Species: A list of endangered, critically endangered, and threatened species along with PDF’s describing the species ecology, distribution, and conservation status.
• All Species: Profile of all threatened aquatics species. 
• Bird Species: Illustrations of endangered bird species in the Chiltern, Victoria region.
• Vertebrate Fauna: An in- depth advisory for all the endangered vertebrate fauna in Victoria, Australia.
• Australian Aviaries: Provides conservation status of threatened species native to Australia’s aviculture.
• Western Australia: Detailed fact sheets of all the threatened animals and plants in the Shark Bay World Heritage Area.
• Non-marine Invertebrates: A list of the 46 threatened invertebrates protected by the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988.

Additional Information

• Endangered Marsupials: This paper focuses on the issues that contribute to the endangerment of marsupials in Australia.
• Causes of Endangerment: Explains the many factors associated with endangerment.
• Why Species Become Endangered: A mammalogist offers his perspective on why species become threatened or endangered. 
• Birds and Mammals: Statistics of endangered and vulnerable birds and mammals in Australia.
• Causes of Extinction: A fantastic page outlining the possible causes of animal extinction.