Five facts about Australia’s threatened species

National Threatened Species Day is a day dedicated to raising awareness about the animals and plants at risk of extinction in Australia. It is also a great time for us to learn about how we, as individuals, can reduce our impacts and help save Australia’s threatened species.

1. Australia has some of the most unique flora and fauna species in the world.

84% of plants, 83% of mammals, and 45% of birds are endemic, meaning they cannot be found anywhere else in the world. This is due to how old and isolated Australia is. The plants and animals who call Australia home have adapted to their environment and each plays an important role in the ecosystem. Australia is also unique because it has eight eco-regions, from tropical rainforests to savannas, shrublands, woodlands, deserts, and tundras. Animals within those regions have all adapted differently.

2. At least 67 animals and 37 plant species have already gone extinct.

In just over 200 years, Australia has lost at least 104 native animals and plants. Of the 273 Australian endemic land mammal species, 11% are extinct, 21% are threatened, and a further 15% are near threatened. According to experts, 70% of Australian plants and animals are either undiscovered or have not been formally described in scientific literature, meaning there is a high chance that the number of extinct species is far greater than this.

The leading threat to native animals and plants is habitat destruction, which is predominately done to make room for farmed animals who are bred and killed for human consumption. In addition to general patterns and causes of extinction around the world –  habitat loss, habitat destruction, hunting, and impacts of human development – Australian animals also have to cope with changed fire regimes, introduced diseases, competition for resources, and predation by introduced species.

3. 1,914 species at risk of extinction – this is more than anywhere else in the world.

Across Australia, native animals and plants are facing a number of threats. There are 523 animal and 1,391 plant species– that we know of – at risk of extinction. Despite this, native animals, such as kangaroos, wallabies, possums, dingoes, cockatoos, and wombats are still killed under specific permits and licences.

The Southern bent-wing bat, Western ringtail possum, native bee, orange-bellied parrot, regent honeyeater, leaf-scaled sea snake, western swamp tortoise, southern corroboree frog, and the grey nurse shark are just a few species who are listed as critically endangered. View the full list here.

4. Globally, the species extinction rate is 1,000 to 10,000 times faster than the natural extinction rate because of human activity.

While extinction is natural, human activities have dramatically accelerated the natural rate. Destruction and degradation of habitats, over-exploitation of animals and the environment, introducing species (this includes farmed animals), pollution, and human-caused climate change are all responsible for this increase.

Though these impacts have been recognised as the major causes of biodiversity decline and extinction, extinctions are also influenced by government policies and practices that are incompatible with conservation, insufficiently resourced or inappropriately executed.

5. Extinction has devastating impacts on the environment and poses risks for humans.

Animals play an important role in maintaining balance in the ecosystem – from managing vegetation growth and spreading seeds to providing food, recycling organic matter, and keeping other species populations at sustainable levels.

Healthy ecosystems, with high biodiversity, are more resilient, allowing it to cope with environmental change and recover from disturbances. When animals become extinct, it creates an imbalance in the ecosystem, reducing its ability to recover. For example, if a plant or prey animal becomes extinct, animals that relied on them as a source of food may also become extinct, and if a predator becomes extinct, their prey populations can proliferate, placing stress on the other resource in the environment, such as food and water. 

But how does this affect humans? A new study found that a loss of biodiversity increases disease transmission. Experts speculate that having more species is better at buffering disease transmission, lowering the overall impact. As we destroy the natural world, we are in decreasing soil, air, and water quality, and impacting our ability to grow food in the future.

How you can help

Living an animal-friendly lifestyle is the best way to protect Australian wildlife and farmed animals

You might be thinking, how does eating plant-based help wildlife? Farming animals for food and clothing is extremely damaging to the environment. Globally, animal agriculture is one of the leading drivers of habitat destruction, resource use, pollution, and species extinction.

Reduce habitat destruction

Currently, there are approximately 28 million cows and bulls, 74 million sheep, 2.4 million pigs, 22 million layer hens, and over 100 million chickens on Australian farms. To make room for these farmed animals, habitat is destroyed, impacting native animals and plants. As land is cleared, machinery and falling trees have been known to crush animals to death, while also leaving surviving animals displaced, stressed, and without food. 

When we break down Earth’s habitable land, 1% is used for urban and built-up land and 11.5% is used for crop farming, while animal agriculture accounts for 38.5%. Experts estimate that if everyone adopted a vegan lifestyle, we could reduce all agricultural land by 75%, meaning land could be rehabilitated and returned to the wild.

To meet consumer demands, we also have fish (aquaculture) farms, both on the land and in the sea. Pond aquaculture has a number of serious environmental concerns, causing degradation of coastal habitats.

Use less resources

Animal agriculture is not only resource-intensive, but it is also an inefficient use of valuable resources. Every year, humans kill over 80 billion land animals (chickens, cows, pigs, sheep, goats, etc), and between 1-3 trillion sea creatures (fish, prawns, squid, octopus, etc). Despite these heartbreaking and shocking figures, this only creates 18% of the world’s calorie supply. Globally, animal agriculture uses almost one-third of our freshwater consumption, and they consume over 760 million tonnes of feed every year.

Fish on farms are mostly carnivores and are fed wild-caught fish, meaning we are still emptying the oceans to feed the growing numbers produced by the aquaculture industry for human demand.

Decrease waste and pollution

Animals create waste, which pollutes the ecosystem and water bodies with excess nutrients, known as eutrophication. Their waste contains high concentrations of nutrients, such as nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus, and trace contaminants, like heavy metals, organic compounds, and endocrine-disrupting chemicals.

Commercial fishing is responsible for most of the great ocean garbage patch, with lost or purposefully discarded fishing nets, ropes, oyster spacers, eel traps, crates, lines, and baskets accounting for 46% of the trash. Discarded fishing equipment is responsible for around 30% of the decline in some fish populations, and more than 70% of marine animal entanglements involve abandoned plastic fishing nets.

Aquaculture farms pollute the surrounding ocean with excess nutrients and contaminants, such as vaccines, fertilisers, disinfectants, pesticides, fish excrement, uneaten chemical-laden food, and swarms of parasites. This impacts the wild animals and can result in disease outbreaks.

End the killing of native animals

On top of the animals killed as a result of habitat destruction, farming animals is directly linked to the slaughter of native animals. Kangaroos, wombats, possums, emus, and cockatoos are often referred to as “pest” species because they are seen as a competitor for resources while others, like dingoes, are unfairly villainised as being a direct threat to farmed animals. As a result, they are killed by either shooting, trapping, and poisoning. Learn more about this here. In reality, native animals are simply trying to survive in a shrinking environment.

Trawlers and longlines, which are used to catch sea animals, both result in by-catch, where non-target species, such as dolphins, whales, sea turtles, rays, seabirds, crabs, young fish, and sharks, are caught, trapped, hooked, or become entangled. According to global estimates, around 38 million tonnes of unwanted sea life are caught, making up 40% of the world’s catch.

Fish farms are also responsible for killing seals, some of which of are listed as endangered on both the EPBC Act (Australia) and the IUCN (global).

How to start living an animal-friendly life

Living an animal-friendly life means taking animals off your plate and replacing them with a range of legumes, beans, nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables, grains, and even mock-meat products! To help you get started, we’ve put together a list of plant-based recipes and a grocery store shopping list.

Note: Animal Liberation does not support the killing of introduced species, as this has proven to be cruel and ineffective. Instead, we support the introduction of non-lethal techniques, such as TNR and rehoming, environmentally-friendly fencing, and the adoption of guardian animals.

Animal Liberation’s mission is to permanently improve the lives of all animals through legislation, consumer advocacy, action, and education. We are a not-for-profit organisation and our work for the animals relies solely on support from generous people like you. Help keep our work alive by becoming a member today or making a donation gift.