Conservationists are concerned about the fate of a number of endangered species on Kangaroo Island in South Australia as a bushfire burns out of control.
Kangaroo Island Land for Wildlife ecologist Pat Hodgens told 1 NEWS the endemic Kangaroo Island dunnart as well the endangered Southern brown bandicoot, Heath goanna, Kangaroo Island glossy black-cockatoo, green carpenter bee and Kangaroo Island echidna are at risk.
“The fire front was moving so quickly that most of our fauna wouldn’t really have stood most of a chance, to be honest, so hopefully some by chance would have been in habitat chances that were not burnt in the fire… that’s all we can really hope for… it’s too early to say the true impact but it’s pretty concerning for sure," said Mr Hodgens.
Mr Hodgens said at least several of the eight monitored sites where the mouse-sized dunnart lives have been destroyed by the blaze.
“It was heart-breaking to be honest, it was devastating, that bit of bushland that we were in was easily the most amazing bit of bushland that I’ve ever seen in my life and I’ve been lucky enough to work in some pretty cool places in Australia.”
Many endangered species have been affected by the fires.
Mr Hodgens said his organisation suspects potentially all of the known sites for dunnart have been burnt in the last couple of weeks.
“We’re going to be getting in there as soon as possible and resetting camera trap fence lines,” he said.
It’s estimated around 500 of the elusive marsupial live on the island, using vegetation for ground cover.
“Any big, detrimental impact like this on a small, limited, range-restricted species could devastate the whole population, for sure,” Mr Hodgens said.
He said the impact of Australia’s wildfires has to be a “turning point” for management of threatened species.
“We can’t continue like this, we can’t keep losing critical habitat… hopefully some good will come of it and we can really prioritise protection.”
Kangaroo Island is Australia’s third largest island and is three times the size of London.
The blaze, referred to earlier as “virtually unstoppable,” has burnt through up to 100,000 hectares.
Two people have died on Kangaroo Island.
SHARE ME