A leading researcher has described the extinction of the Christmas Island shrew as “another stain” on Australia’s environmental record.<\/p>\n
The mouse-sized mammal was officially added to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of extinct species this month.<\/p>\n
The Australian government is a member of the IUCN, the world’s most comprehensive database for the conservation status of flora and fauna.<\/p>\n
Charles Darwin University professor John Woinarski said questions about the shrew’s extinction had been asked for decades.<\/p>\n
“It’s another species that we can’t share with our grandchildren or their descendants,” Professor Woinarski said.<\/p>\n
“We’ve failed the shrew and we’ve failed many other species and we continue to fail.”<\/p>\n
Four of five mammals endemic to Christmas Island from the time of settlement have been declared extinct. (ABC Pilbara: Alistair Bates)<\/p>\n
The extinction has renewed concern for the native wildlife remaining on the remote territory of Christmas Island, more than 1,500 kilometres north of mainland Australia.<\/p>\n
‘Twilight zone’<\/p>\n
The Christmas Island shrew was abundant when the remote island was first settled and the commercial mining of phosphate began in 1888.<\/p>\n
The shrew ate beetles and other invertebrates on the rainforest floor, and was distinctive for its twittering cry and musky scent.<\/p>\n
“[The shrew] almost disappeared within a couple of years after black rats were inadvertently introduced to the island,” Professor Woinarski said<\/p>\n
“It’s been in this sort of twilight zone of \u2026 is it extinct for at least 40 years now.”<\/p>\n
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The shrew was last sighted in March 1985, tallying only four reports in 120 years. (ABC Pilbara: Mietta Adams)<\/p>\n
He believed the introduction of a parasite carried by the rats was to blame.<\/p>\n
Four of five mammals endemic to Christmas Island have become extinct since the late 1800s.<\/p>\n
That includes two types of native rats, the bulldog and Maclear’s, and a tiny bat known as the Christmas Island pipistrelle.<\/p>\n
Lone survivor<\/p>\n
Western Sydney University ecologist Annabel Dorrestein said the shrew’s listing came as no surprise.<\/p>\n
“It also drives home the message of like, we really don’t have many native animals left, and you really need to help what is left on the island,” she said.<\/p>\n
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The fruit bat is slightly smaller than its mainland relatives. (Supplied: Chris Bray)<\/p>\n
Dr Dorrestein is researching the Christmas Island flying fox, which is the only surviving mammal endemic to the Island and is critically low in number.<\/p>\n