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Threatened Mammal Index confirms species decline

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Healthy Environments

The abundance and richness of our Wheatbelt species was a ‘Big Resource Issue’ identified in the Regional NRM Strategy for the Avon River Basin (www.nrmstrategy.com.au/about-strategy) and a new database shows our community was right to be concerned.

The Threatened Mammal Index is compiled from more than 400,000 individual surveys and illustrates population trends in our threatened mammal species. Many threatened Australian mammals suffered significant population decline between 1995 and 2016.

Professor John Woinarski from Charles Darwin University, who is a member of the Threatened Species Recovery Hub, said he was not surprised to see the extent of the decline.

"We feared that was the case. Mammals have proven really susceptible to a whole range of factors. We've lost 34 species of native mammal already," Professor Woinarski said.

"Feral cats and foxes are a major factor...and certainly habitat loss is another one."

You can read more on this from an ABC science report here - www.abc.net.au/news/science/2020-04-22/native-mammals-decline-over-one-third/12163838

Or access the Threatened Mammal Index here - https://tsx.org.au/tsx/#/

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