SYDNEY: Australia’s earless dragon is no bigger than a little finger when it emerges from its shell, but the tiny creatures will face a huge challenge in the coming years: avoiding extinction.
As recently as 2019, Canberra scientists counted hundreds of grassland dragons. This year they found 11 of them.
In other parts of the country, it has not been seen for thirty years.
It has no external ear holes and no working ears, hence the name.
There are four species of earless dragons in Australia. Three are endangered, the highest risk level, and the fourth is endangered.
The critically endangered dragon could become extinct in the next 20 years without conservation efforts.
“If we manage conservation, we can go back,” said Bernd Gruber, a lecturer at the University of Canberra.
Australia is home to thousands of unique animals, including 1,130 species of reptiles found nowhere else in the world.
Climate change, invasive plants and animals, and habitat destruction – the 2019 bushfires that burned more than 19 million hectares (46 million acres) threaten Australia’s native species.
Over the past 300 years, almost 100 unique species of flora and fauna have disappeared from the planet in Australia.
Australia has several breeding programs to save earless dragons, including a bio-secure facility in the Canberra bush that Gruber oversees.
On the shelves are dozens of tubs containing shrimp – one in each container – with holes, fires, and heat lamps to keep them warm.
The biggest challenge is to create a place where women in the region prefer to choose their partners.
That means the researchers have to introduce different types of male deer until the female is confirmed.
If that is not difficult enough, scientists must also use genetic analysis to determine which deer are suitable and determine the genetic diversity of their offspring.
Gruber is currently caring for more than 20 young deer that have just been released. Scientists missed the tiny egg from the shell three weeks ago.
“A sense of hope is watching over them,” he told AFP.
