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December 2008 - Environment Minister Peter
Garrett today announced that the brush-tailed
rabbit-rat (Conilurus penicillatus) would
be protected as a threatened species under
national environmental legislation.
The small native rodent,
which has suffered substantial population
decline due to a range of threats, including
feral cats, will be listed as vulnerable
under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity
Conservation Act 1999.
The listing coincides
with Mr Garrett’s recent approval of four
updated national plans to combat the threat
posed by invasive pests, as well as a report
which details the environmental damage being
wrought by invasive animals across Australia.
“Today, I am announcing
the release of four revised threat abatement
plans for feral cats, the European red fox,
rabbits and unmanaged goats - these are
among 10 of Australia’s worst invasive pests,”
Mr Garrett said.
“Feral and pest animals
cause significant land degradation, damage
to our water resources, impact on our primary
production industries, prey on our wildlife
and are also a major threat to species conservation
in Australia’s World Heritage Areas.”
Mr Garrett said his
approval of the revised plans was timely
considering the extent of environmental
and economic damage caused by invasive species,
as detailed in the report – Assessing invasive
animals in Australia 2008 – by the National
Land & Water Resources Audit and Invasive
Animals Cooperative Research Centre.
“This is very much a
national issue as invasive species inhabit
all areas of mainland Australia and many
of our islands, cost Australia an estimated
$1 billion a year, and are one of the top
three threats to Australia’s threatened
species and nationally important wetlands,”
he said.
“The report assesses
the extent and impacts on 10 of Australia’s
top invasive species, including feral pigs,
feral goats, rabbits, foxes, feral cats
and cane toads, which are all listed as
key threatening processes to Australian
wildlife under the EPBC Act.
“It provides data to
agencies and groups responsible for invasive
animal control and natural resource management
about the abundance and distribution of
these pests across Australia, and is a good
foundation for ongoing monitoring and evaluation
of management policies and programs.”
Mr Garrett said the
report also highlighted the importance of
a national coordinated approach to help
stop their spread, which was a key focus
of the threat abatement plans.
“National coordination
is essential to ensure these pests are managed
in a scientific and coordinated way to reduce
their numbers across all states and territories
and consequently the damage they cause.
“The updated threat abatement plans I’ve
released today take into account recent
research and advances made regarding the
management of these invasive species and
outline a plan to manage them across Australia
over the next five years.”
The launch of the invasive
animals report and the revised threat abatement
plans follows the Minister’s recent decisions
to ban the savannah cat from live import
into Australia and to reject a request for
the live import of large earth bumblebees.
Both decisions were based on concerns about
the invasive potential of the species and
their risk to Australia’s flora and fauna.
Assessing invasive animals
in Australia 2008 can be found at: www.invasiveanimals.com/downloads/NLWRA_Invasive20Animals20WEB-READY.pdf
Facts on the brush-tailed
rabbit-rat
The brush-tailed rabbit-rat
(Conilurus penicillatus) is also known as
the brush-tailed tree-rat.
It is found in northern parts of Queensland,
the Northern Territory and Western Australia,
where its distribution is restricted mostly
to islands, coastal areas and areas of relatively
high rainfall.
Major threats are feral cats and habitat
alteration due to fire regimes, grazing,
forestry and mining operations.
The species will now be listed as vulnerable
under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity
Conservation Act 1999
Photos/footage
Photos available of
the brush-tailed rabbit-rat and of the damage
caused by feral cats.
