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Australian Endangered Animals Claire Seale, Natalie Perez, Kathryn Lopez and Esther De Silva

Australian Endangered Animals

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This slideshow presents three of Australia's native endangered animals: the southern bent-wing bat, the northern hairy-nosed wombat and the Tasmanian Devil. It discusses their physical features, behaviour, ecology, threats and conservation efforts. Efforts have been made to use credible resources and this is also discussed, as well as an extensive list of references.

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Page 1: Australian Endangered Animals

Australian Endangered Animals

Claire Seale, Natalie Perez, Kathryn Lopez and Esther De Silva

Page 2: Australian Endangered Animals

IntroductionThis slideshow presents information on 3 of Australia’s endangered animals:

• Southern Bent Wing Bat

• Tasmanian Devil

• Northern Hairy Nosed Wombat

The presentation will discuss physical features (description), behaviour, ecology, threats and conservation measures regarding the above animals.

Page 3: Australian Endangered Animals

Southern Bent Wing Bat

‘Miniopterus Schreibersii Bassanii ’

Page 4: Australian Endangered Animals

The Southern Bent Wing Bat is a microbat native to South Australia (Government of South Australia, 2013).

The name ‘bent wing’ comes from the bent appearance of the bat’s wing created by the length of its third finger (Barry, 2014).

Description

length:52-58mm

weight: 15g

distinctive short-muzzle

back: red-dark brown fur

front: grey-brown fur

(Churchill, 1998)

wingspan is 2.5x length of its body (Barry, 2014)

Image: Bourne, unknown.

Page 5: Australian Endangered Animals

Behaviour and EcologyHABITAT

The Southern bent wing bat can be located in the south-east areas of

South Australia and western Victoria. They dwell mostly in caves and can be

found in wetlands, vineyards and woodlands where they forage

(Department of the Environment, 2014).

DIETClassified as ‘insectivorous’, these bats feed upon moths, beetles and crickets

(South West Integrated Flaura and Fauna Team, 2007). Being nocturnal,

they use echolocation (ultrasound emission) to search for food at night

(Zoos Victoria, unknown).

BREEDINGFemales produce one ‘pup’ between the months of October and January in what has been termed ‘maternity caves’, which are caves of optimal climate and structure for nursing (Government of South Australia,

2013).

LIFE CYCLEThe estimated life-span of the Southern bent wing bat is 5-7 years (Lumsden & Gray, 2001). They migrate to maternity caves around August. Pups are able to

leave the cave with adults by 3 months.

Page 6: Australian Endangered Animals

Threats

The Southern bent-wing bat has declined approximately 67% in population since the 90s, with a current population of around 40,870.

loss habitat: destruction of native vegetation, maternity caves and human disturbance

drought: lack of rain affects availability of insects

pesticide: ingestion of insects which have had exposure to pesticides

predators: owls, rats, feral cats and foxes

windfarms: windfarms located near roosting caves and maternity caves

(Department of the Environment, 2014)

Page 7: Australian Endangered Animals

Conservation Efforts

The Southern Bent-wing bat is classified as critically endangered under the Australian Conservation Status (EPBC Act).

The Friends of Naracoorte Caves (South Australia) was granted $14,745 in 2009 to determine the requirements for their habitat (Department of the Environment, 2014).

Bat Cave, one of two major maternity caves, has a World Heritage listing and is protected (Government of South Australia, 2013).

No specific recovery plan is in place as of yet (Barry, 2014).

Page 8: Australian Endangered Animals

Tasmanian Devil‘Sarcophilus Harrisii’

Page 9: Australian Endangered Animals

Description

The Tasmanian Devil is the largest living carnivorous marsupial in Australia.

A fully grown adult stands up to 30cm in height, grows up to 60cm’s in length and weighing between 8 to 12kg (Parks and Wildlife Tasmania, 2014).

Devils are covered in thick black fur with white markings on their chest, each marking is distinct to the individual like a finger print. (Australia Zoo, 2014).

Its thick neck and large head gives it the strongest bite per kilo gram of body mass than any other land animal.

Page 10: Australian Endangered Animals

Behaviour and Ecology

Tasmanian Devils are nocturnal, and as such are rarely seen in the wild. They are hunters, usually consuming all parts of an animal.

They can run up to 10kms per hour for up to an hour, are great tree climbers and swim across rivers (The Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment, 2011).

Research has proven they occupied main land Australia between 3000 to 4000 years ago but are now only found Tasmania.

The devils habitat is quite diverse and they are found in all parts of Tasmania including suburban fringes.

Page 11: Australian Endangered Animals

Threats

The single largest threat to the wild Tasmanian Devil today is the cancerous Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD). It first appeared in 1996 and since then has wiped out 80% of the wild population, moving its status from ‘least concern’ to ‘endangered’ (Tasmanian Treatment, 2014).

DFTD is a transmissible cancer spread between individuals through biting. The animal will usually die within a few months of cancer becoming visible. The tumours are located around its mouth and nose, which prevents them from eating.

Death is normally a result of starvation or breakdown of body functions due to the cancer (Parks and Wildlife Tasmania, 2014).

Page 12: Australian Endangered Animals

Conservation Efforts

There is a small dedicated team of researchers working to save the Tasmanian Devil from extinction.

It is headed up by Professor Greg Woods from University of Tasmania.

They are collaborating with experts from all over the world to share research information however a cure is still not tangible (Tasmanian Treatment, 2014).

Page 13: Australian Endangered Animals

Northern Hairy Nosed Wombat

‘Lasiorhinus Krefftii’

Page 14: Australian Endangered Animals

Description

The Northern Hairy Nosed Wombat is a marsupial native to Australia.

They can range from 71cm to 119cm and can weigh 40 – 32kg.

It has a longer and broader muzzle, with significantly more pointed ears than the other species of wombat.

The scientific name for them is Lasiorhinus krefftii and they are also know in the Indigenous culture as Yaminon (Wildlife Queensland, 2013).

Image: Australia Zoo, 2007

Page 15: Australian Endangered Animals

Behaviour and Ecology

They live in complex and extensive burrows found in eucalyptus forests and grasslands. Burrows are divided into groups of ten for females and males living in solitary. (National Geographic, 2014).

They are nocturnal and embark from their burrows at night to eat. Their diets consists mainly of grass, roots and bark (National Geographic, 2014).

The Northern Hairy Nosed wombat used to live in regions across New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. Their rapid decline in numbers means they can only be found in Epping Forest National Park in Central Queensland (Department of the Environment and Heritage, 2014).

Page 16: Australian Endangered Animals

Threats

The Northern Hairy-Nosed Wombat is critically endangered and is one of Australia’s rarest marsupials (Wildlife Queensland, 2013).

They are vulnerable to many threats, for example, predators such as the Dingo.

The Northern Hairy Nosed Wombat became extinct in Moonie River and Deniliquin in the 1900s because of introduced species of grazing animals and drought. Drought continues to inhibit these animals from breeding (Wildlife Queensland, 2013).

Bushfires are also a threat, destroying the grass which is their main food supply (Department of the Environment and Heritage, 2014).

Page 17: Australian Endangered Animals

Conservation Efforts One main conservation effort is the maintenance of Epping

Forest National Park, which protects them from destructive human impact on their habitat (Department of the Environment and Heritage, 2014).

They are considered Critically endangered (IUCN Red List) Endangered under the Queensland Nature Conservation Act and federal EPBC Act.

There are current recovery plans in process protecting and encouraging population increase in the Northern Hairy Nosed Wombat which include: o a volunteer caretaker program that monitors and repairs fences

that protect the wombats from predators

o DNA fingerprint identification of wombat hairs which allows for tracking of the wombat without trapping  (Department of the Environment and Heritage, 2014)

Page 18: Australian Endangered Animals

Credibility of Resources According to Metzger (2007), credibility of online resources should be assessed

using the following five criteria: authority, accuracy, objectivity, currency and scope. Our process for evaluating credibility involved determining the date stamp for currency, author identification for authority, presence of advertising for objectivity, referencing for accuracy and breadth of information for scope.

The Department of the Environment website is an Australian Federal Government website, so authority is assumed. Its scope is great as it covers many areas, was updated in 2014, and provides a list of references, many of which are books, journal articles and government or organisation websites. Renowned organisations such as National Geographic, The Australian Geographic Website and Zoos Victoria were also used. They are viewed as experts on native Australian animals, and being updated in the past 2 years, are current.

The sources cross referenced against each other, were listed in the first page of a Google search, presented similar information, had no advertising, were recently updated and referenced sources and further research. It is for these reasons that we believe our online resources to be highly credible.

Page 19: Australian Endangered Animals

ReferencesAustralia Zoo, (2007). [Online Image]. Retrieved September 13, 2014 from:

http://www.australiazoo.com.au/about-us/zoo-gossip/454-wombats-will-dig-this Australian Zoo (2014). Mammals: Tasmanian Devil. Retrieved September 8 2014,from: http://www.australiazoo.com.au/our-animals/mammals/tasmanian-devils Barry, C. (2014). Australian geographic blogs: southern bent-wing bat. Retrieved September 6, 2014 from: http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/blogs/australian-endangered-species/2014/05/endangered-animal-southern-bent-wing-bat Bourne, S. (unknown) [Online image]. Retrieved September 6, 2014 from: http://www.zoo.org.au/animals/southern-bent-wing-bat Brown, O.F.J (2006 ). Tasmanian Devil extinction on the Australian mainland in the mid-Holocene: Multicausality and ENSO intensification. Retrieved September 1, 2014 from:

https://sydney.academia.edu/OliverBrown Churchill, S.K. (1998). Australian Bats. Sydney: Reed New Holland. Department of The Environment (2014). Lasiorhinus krefftii in Species Profile and Threats Database, Department of the Environment, Canberra. Retrieved September 1, 2014 from:

http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=198 Department of the Environment (2014). Miniopterus schreibersii bassanii in Species Profile and Threats Database, Department of the Environment, Canberra. Retrieved September 6, 2014 from: http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?id=76606

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ReferencesGovernment of South Australia (2013). Bioregion fact sheet about the southern bent wing bat.

Retrieved September 7, 2014 from: http://www.naturalresources.sa.gov.au/ Lumsden, L. & P. Gray (2001). Longevity record for a Southern Bent-wing Bat Miniopterus schreibersii bassanii. The Australasian Bat Society Newsletter. 16:43-4 National Geographic (2014). Common Wombat. Retrieved September 1, 2014, from National Geographic: http://animals.nationalgeographic.com.au/animals/mammals/wombat/ Parks and Wildlife Service Tasmania (2014). Tasmanian Devil , Retrieved September 1, 2014 from: http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/?base=387 South West Integrated Flora & Fauna Team (2007). Common Bent-wing Bat. [Online]. Retrieved September 7, 2014 from: http://bird.net.au/bird/index.php?title=Common_Bent-wing_Bat. The Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment, (2011). About Tasmanian Devils. Retrieved August 28, 2014 from: http://www.tassiedevil.com.au/tasdevil.nsf/ Wildlife Queensland. (2013). Wildlife. Retrieved September 5, 2014, from:

http://www.wildlife.org.au/wildlife/speciesprofile/mammals/northern_hairy_nosed_wombat.html Woods, G (2014). Tasmanian Treatment, International Innovation pg 22-23. Retrieved August 2014,

from: http://www.tassiedevil.com.au/tasdevil.nsf/news/6F362FB1D2D4E8D9CA257D0900226421