Nearly 50 new species of flora and fauna have been added without fanfare to the federal government’s list of threatened species, including nine that are critically endangered.

 

Among the species to be added to the list under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act were the brush-tailed bettong (endangered), the three-toed snake-tooth skink (vulnerable), the swift parrot (upgraded from endangered to critically endangered), and several types of orchid and albatross.

 

Australian Conservation Foundation campaigner Jess Abrahams said 49 species were added on Thursday without notice from the federal environment minister, Greg Hunt, or his ministry.

 

Abrahams noted that no new funding had been put towards the existing threatened species strategy in the budget on Tuesday, meaning programs to bring animals such as the Leadbeater’s possum back from the brink of extinction were unable to be delivered.

 

Most of the species were threatened due to habitat loss, he said – and commercial activities that contributed to this were ongoing, compounding the problem of inadequate funding. (The Guardian)

 

 

PHOTO: A ghost bat bats receives a medical check-up in Darwin. Ghost bats are native to Australia and are named for the extremely thin membrane of their wings.

CREDIT: Katrina Bridgeford/Newspix/REX.