Not only has the Resilient Landscapes Hub contributed to a wide variety of projects to protect rare and threatened species, we’ve also been part of projects that have rediscovered species that were feared to be extinct!
Finding these elusive species has helped establish stronger conservation measures to protect the species and their habitats. It has also led to the establishment of crucial captive breeding programs to ensure that the species survive if they ever go extinct in the wild.
Victorian grassland earless dragon. Image: Rory Keenan.
Species rediscoveries have generated attention across the country. They have been promoted through national television, radio and newspaper platforms, and have boosted public awareness about some of Australia’s rarest species.
In early 2023, the hub’s Queensland threatened lizard survey found 3 threatened, poorly known lizard species in the Mount Surprise area of north Queensland. The biggest surprise was the rediscovery of the critically endangered Lyon’s Grassland Striped Skink which had not been seen since 1981 and was feared extinct.
Lyon’s Grassland Skink. Image: Angus Emmott.
‘It was an exciting moment to find all 3 skinks, but to find the Lyon’s Grassland Striped Skink was an amazing discovery,’
Expedition leader Dr Andrew Amey, Queensland Museum Network
At about the same time, hub researchers from Zoos Victoria have been trialling the use of detection dogs to sniff out the recently rediscovered Victorian grassland earless dragon. After training with dragons housed at Melbourne Zoo, the dogs were successful at sniffing out this critically endangered reptile in the field. A conservation breeding program at the zoo recently led to a world first hatching of baby Victorian grassland earless dragons!
Wildlife detection dogs (clockwise from top-left) Finn, Kip, Daisy and Moss. Image: Zoos Victoria.
