The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, announced the bulloak jewel butterfly, Kate’s leaf-tail gecko, and 16 types of native spiny crayfish were among 48 species that had “been given greater protection under Australia’s national environmental law” by joining the threatened list.
The listings come as Plibersek announces a draft national plan to tackle feral cats, which a report released this week found were having the greatest effect on Australia’s biodiversity.
We are a world leader in sending mammals to extinction – and it is mostly because we keep allowing their homes to be bulldozed, logged and overrun,” nature campaigner Jess Abrahams said.
The Invasive Species Council welcomed the plan as a “comprehensive” proposal to address a threat that caused millions of Australian animal deaths each day.
The Australian Marine Conservation Society welcomed the $2.1m for a captive breeding program but said the government must address the biggest threat to the skate’s survival, which was degraded water quality in Macquarie Harbour.
“Removing salmon pens would give the Maugean skate a fighting chance of survival, as well as addressing the freshwater flows from the hydroelectric dams.”
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