<
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/sep/15/scientists-fear-this-cute-and-chonky-flying-fox-could-be-one-cyclone-away-from-extinction>
"It’s the last native mammal on the island, but the “incredibly cute and
fluffy” Christmas Island flying fox is critically endangered with no recovery
plan and severely outdated conservation advice.
The flying fox is smaller and fluffier than many of Australia’s mainland flying
fox species, according to animal ecologist Dr Annabel Dorrestein, from Western
Sydney University, who has studied the species for nine years.
The bats are “incredibly cute” and “chonky”; a bit like teddy bears, Dorrestein
said.
Christmas Island, located 1,550km off north-west Western Australia, originally
had five native mammals – two rodents, two bats and a shrew. The rodents
disappeared in the early 1900s. The shrew has not been seen since 1985 and is
probably extinct.
In 2009, the Christmas Island pipistrelle – one of Australia’s smallest bats at
3.4cm – became the first recorded extinction after the introduction of the
federal
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, which
biologist Prof John Woinarski called the “first irredeemable failure of that
act”.
That leaves the Christmas Island flying fox."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
