Australia is the mammal extinction capital of the world, having lost 39 land mammals since European settlement. The nation has an abysmal record of conservation, and a further 499 animals and 1,374 plants are listed as threatened with extinction. Fat-tailed dunnarts are among these species. These marsupials, which weigh around 15 grams and store energy reserves in their tails, were considered common for a long time but have now been declared a threatened species in Victoria. Dr Andrew Weeks, who is studying the species, decided to nominate them for threatened species listing.
The Challenges of Threatened Species Listing
The process of listing threatened species can be confusing, tedious and time-consuming. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species has five criteria for the classification of threatened species. A species only needs to meet one of these criteria to be eligible for listing as threatened. However, the catch-all term "threatened" includes different levels of extinction risk, from vulnerable through to extinct.
Furthermore, every state and territory, and the Commonwealth, has its own threatened species legislation, which means a species can potentially be listed as threatened in one jurisdiction but not in another. Finally, someone must take the time and effort to formally nominate a species as threatened, providing compelling evidence that the species satisfies at least one of the IUCN criteria.
Victoria's Fat-Tailed Dunnart
Fat-tailed dunnarts are small, carnivorous, nocturnal marsupials that are widely distributed across southern and central Australia in a range of habitats. In Victoria, they are largely confined to grasslands and open woodlands. When Dr Andrew Weeks began his PhD research in 2018, fat-tailed dunnarts were assumed to be "common" based on historical records. But when he set out to find them, he couldn't.
Dr Weeks decided to nominate them for threatened species listing, which would afford them extra protection, but there are no guarantees. A threatened species listing gives the conservation status legal standing and mandates actions to secure species populations, allowing eventual removal from the list. This may include developing a recovery plan that stipulates actions to reduce threats such as habitat loss, predation, or competition with invasive species, or to increase populations such as captive breeding and translocations.
Listing the Fat-Tailed Dunnart
Dr Weeks chose the Werribee Western Treatment Plant as his main study site. In the early 1970s, 700 fat-tailed dunnarts were trapped there over four years. Using the same methods, with double the survey effort, Dr Weeks only caught one in the first year. He realized the species was in decline and needed help to recover. Dr Weeks nominated the species for listing as a threatened species under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 in Victoria, which was a rigorous and time-consuming process. However, his nomination was successful, and the fat-tailed dunnart is now officially a threatened species in Victoria.