Species that are extinct in the NT but exist elsewhere in Australia
The NT has joined all other state and territory governments and the Australian Government in a common agreement on how threatened species are to be assessed and listed - it is called the Common Assessment Method (CAM).
Under that agreement, the listing for a threatened species should be the same in all states and territories where it occurs, including the national list under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBCA).
There are a couple of exceptions to this. Here the exception is for species that no longer occur in a state or territory but still live elsewhere in Australia. Listing such a species as Vulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered in that state or territory gives the mistaken impression that the species still exists there. For these species, they should adopt the EPBCA listing, but carry a tag saying they are extinct in that state or territory.
In the NT there are 19 taxa currently listed as Extinct/Extinct in the Wild under the Territory Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1976 (TPWCA). Nine of these still exist elsewhere in Australia, so are not nationally extinct. To align with the CAM, we propose to change the status of these species as follows:
Summary of proposed changes to listings of regionally extinct taxa
| Type | Common name | Scientific name | Current TPWCA listing category * | Current EPBCA listing category * | Proposed TPWCA listing category* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bird | Slender-billed Thornbill (western) | Acanthiza iredalei iredalei | EX | Not listed | LC (EX) |
| Mammal | Brush-tailed Bettong | Bettongia penicillata | EX | EN (as B. p. ogilbyi) | EN (EX) |
| Mammal | Kowari | Dasyuroides byrnei | EX | VU | VU (EX) |
| Mammal | Western Quoll, Chuditch, Tjilpa | Dasyurus geoffroii | EX | VU | VU (EX) |
| Mammal | Mala, Rufous Hare-Wallaby (Central Australia) | Lagorchestes hirsutus (Central Australian subspecies) | EW | EN | EN (EW) |
| Mammal | Numbat | Myrmecobius fasciatus | EX | EN | EN (EX) |
| Mammal | Fawn Hopping-mouse | Notomys cervinus | EX | Not listed | LC (EX) |
| Mammal | Red-tailed Phascogale | Phascogale calura | EX | VU | VU (EX) |
| Mammal | Shark Bay Mouse, Alice Springs Mouse | Pseudomys fieldi | EX | VU | VU (EX) |
* Refer to the IUCN categories
Two additional species are considered to be extinct in the NT but still exist elsewhere in Australia: Canefield Rat and Grey Currawong. These two species are currently listed as Critically Endangered, but we propose to change their status to Least Concern (Extinct in the NT).
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