A new study has found one in ten native mammals that were present in Australia when the country was colonised in 1788 are now extinct.
Researchers from Charles Darwin University say a further 56 Australian land mammals are also endangered, mainly as a result of predators like the feral cat and red fox.
One of the study's key reseachers Professor John Woinarski said the study highlighted the need for more effective strategies to protect native mammals from extinction.
"We've tried to make the community aware that we've got a serious problem here," he said.
"Our society also has to figure out whether it values these things and then we can take a whole series of management responses and this includes protecting offshore islands that currently don't have cats or foxes on them."
"We could then move some of the most endangered species to some of those islands."
Professor Woinarski said a good example over the past decade has been the relocation of many Tasmanian devils to Maria Island to help protect the species from predators.
He also said baiting programs may have some impact on combating feral cat and red fox populations on the Australian mainland.
"But there are still some dangers with those programs because there is the possibility of some native species also being affected by that baiting and we don't want that to occur," Professor Woinarski added.
He said Australians also needed to play their part in adopting more ecologically sustainable lifestyles to give native mammal species a strong chance of surviving in the longer term.
"We can reduce our spending on pets which is six billion dollars per year which I think far outstrips what individuals are spending on conservation actions," Professor Woinarski said.
"We can also learn more about these species. One of the problems is that most Australians don't know what a bilby or a dalgyte is."
Listen to the full interview with Professor Woinarski
Share
