The extinction of Biodiversity
Today’s forest contains around
70 to 90% of the Earth's species and yet they are being destroyed at a RAPID
rate. We have already lost half of our forestS and they are disappearing at a
rate of 150,000 square kilometers a year, which is nearly 2% of the remaining
8 million square kilometers. In Queensland in just 6,300 square kilometers
of rainforests, less than half of what was there 50 years ago. There occurs at
least 1,165 plant species of which 1/3 are endemic to the area. Some people
believe the Aboriginal people hunted some animals to extinction too like the
Mega fauna, which could not compete against Aboriginals with spears because it
was so
slow.
27 species of mammals, 10 species of birds and 97 species of plants are known to
have became extinct in Australia since the arrival of the British in 1788. A
further 3329 species of plants are listed as rare or endangered. The Marsupials
that are on the endangered list are dibbler, numbat, proserpine rock wallably,
bribled nail-tail wallaby, northern brush-tail bettong, northern hairy nosed
wombat, julia creek dunnart, leadbeaters possum, mountain pygmy possum, bilby,
long-footed potoroo. In 1788 NSW was home to 131 native mammal species, of these
27 are now extinct and 50 are recognised threatened in the
state.

Australian extinct
Vertebrate
species
Mammals
Last recorded
sighting
Thylacine
1936
Pig-footed
Bandicoot
1907
Desert
Bandicoot
1931
Lesser
Bilby
1931
Desert
Rat-kangaroo
1935
Broad-faced
Potoroo
1875
Eastern
Hare-wallaby
1891
Central
Hare-wallaby 1932
Toolache
Wallaby
1924
Cresent Nailtail
Wallaby
1930's
Short-tailed
Hopping-mouse
1896
Long-tailed
Hopping-mouse
1901
Big-eared
Hopping-mouse
1843
Darling Downs
Hopping-mouse
1840's
White-footed
Rabbit-rat
1870's
Lesser Stick-nest
Rat
1933
Gould's
Mouse
1930
Alice Spring
Mouse
1890's
Birds
Dwarf
Emu 1840's
Rufous
Bristlebird
1906
Paradise
Parrot 1927
Reptiles
Adelaide Pygmy
Bluetongue
Skink
1959
Reptiles
Western Swamp Turtle
Fish
Trout Cod