Page 525 - Week 02 - Thursday, 22 February 1990
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MINISTER FOR FINANCE AND URBAN SERVICES
LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY QUESTION
QUESTION N0. 103
Flora and Fauna
on 15 February 1990:
Ms Follett asked the Minister for Finance and Urban Services
(1) What species of flora and fauna native to the ACT are (a) believed to have become extinct and (b) considered to be endangered, and for what reasons.
Mr Duby - the answer to the Members question is as follows:
One animal has become extinct in the ACT in recent times, the brush-tailed rock wallaby, Petrogale penicillata. It probably disappeared in the mid 1950s. Causes of its extinction included predation by foxes, changes in the fire regime and competition from introduced stock.
One plant species, the perennial herb Taraxacum aristum, has apparently become extinct in the ACT in recent times. The plant is relatively common in Tasmania but rare in other parts of its range in mainland Australia. This species was only known from a few specimens in this region. The reasons for its local extinction are not conclusively known.
There are two endangered animals in the ACT and three endangered plants.
The two endangered animals are the Trout Cod Maccullochella macquariensis, and the pink-tailed legless lizard, Apprise parapulchella. The trout cod became locally extinct probably due to a variety of factors including pressure from introduced fish such as trout, overfishing and habitat modification. Recently a few trout cod have been introduced into Bender reservoir in an attempt to re-establish this species in the ACT.
The pink-tailed legless lizard is more common in the ACT than once thought and its habitat will be adequately protected as part of the Murrumbidgee Corridor and Canberra Nature Park Reserve systems. Major pressures on this lizard have been destruction of habitat for urban development and agriculture and removal of surface rocks on which it depends for protection.
Of the three endangered plants in the ACT, all are perennial herbs with no established common names. They are Rutidosis leptorhynchoides, Theism austral and Swainsonia recta. Adequate habitat for the first two of these species is currently contained in reserved areas. Causes for their current status include past land management practices including grazing and agriculture and in recent times urban development.
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