Numbat Population Jumps 10-Fold in Dryandra, Lifting Species Off Endangered List
Updated
Updated · bbc.co.uk · Aug 8
Numbat Population Jumps 10-Fold in Dryandra, Lifting Species Off Endangered List
3 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Aug 8
Summary
Around 3,000 numbats now live nationwide, with numbers in Western Australia’s Dryandra Woodland up tenfold from fewer than 50 in the 1980s, helping move the marsupial from endangered to near-threatened.
Two weeks of annual spring surveys, zoo breeding and constant predator control by researchers and volunteers drove the rebound, with this year’s count described as one of the best yet.
Eight numbats, including two pairs of babies, were spotted during the latest survey, but conservationists warned the recovery remains fragile and could even make funding harder to secure.
The warning reflects Australia’s wider biodiversity crisis: experts say at least 100 species have already been lost, about four disappear each decade, and feral cats alone kill an estimated 3 billion animals a year.
Federal spending on nature protection is about A$700 million, far below the A$33 billion conservationists say is needed, underscoring how rare the numbat’s recovery is.