Australia\u2019s three resident seals \u2013 the Australian fur seal, the New Zealand fur seal and the Australian sea lion \u2013 are all considered at very high risk. The Tasmanian devil and the eastern quoll, both assessed as high risk, are the land mammals at greatest threat.<\/p>\n
The extent of the analysis and the number of species considered at high risk underlines expert fears for the threat to local wildlife.<\/p>\n
Prof John Woinarski, a leading conservation scientist at Charles Darwin University who helped devise the analysis, said: \u201cThis has sketched out a more bleak picture than perhaps we considered previously.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are going to get major consequences for many species and our bird and mammal diversity is likely to suffer substantial impacts from this disease.\u201d<\/p>\n Prof Hugh Possingham of the University of Queensland, a lead councillor at the\u00a0Biodiversity\u00a0Council, said the analysis was \u201ca good first cut\u201d but it should have been released two years ago.<\/p>\n \u201cA year ago we needed a priority action list and we should have been taking action then because everyone knew that it was coming,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Kate Millar, the chief executive of BirdLife Australia, said while the list of species at high risk or worse was \u201clong\u201d and \u201cincredibly confronting\u201d it also meant Australia could \u201cprioritise and take action protecting the species most at risk\u201d.<\/p>\n Jack Gough, the chief executive of the Invasive Species Council, said the \u201clist of doom\u201d revealed \u201cthe true extent of the disaster facing Australian wildlife\u201d.<\/p>\n He said it demanded a \u201cserious response\u201d from the government \u201cbut instead we have had cuts to on-ground environment programs nationally\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cAlmost one in five Australian mammals and birds has been rated by the government as at risk of severe population reductions or even extinction,\u201d he said. \u201cThis includes quolls, parrots, seals and pelicans.\u201d<\/p>\n The council is among several conservation groups calling for the government to fund a $200m package to scale up on-ground efforts to protect wildlife, including feral animal controls.<\/p>\n The government has said it has committed $113m to prepare for bird flu, including $47m \u201cto accelerate protective action\u201d for threatened species and biodiversity.<\/p>\n The environment minister, Murray Watt, said the risk analysis had already informed investments to protect captive animal populations, removing feral threats and inoculating against more common diseases.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have been investing in these types of projects across the country for several years in preparation for a bird flu outbreak, and as a result, our native species are in a better position to withstand the H5 incursion.\u201d<\/p>\n Jess Abrahams, national nature campaigner at the Australian\u00a0Conservation\u00a0Foundation, said: \u201cAustralia is already in the midst of an extinction crisis and we need to be prepared for just how harrowing this could get.<\/p>\n \u201cAustralians love nature and we all need to be emotionally prepared for the onslaught that could occur and know what to do if they come across a sick, dying or dead animal.\u201d<\/p>\n The H5N1 virus has killed millions of birds and mammals since it spread from Europe in 2021 to every continent on the planet.<\/p>\n Australia was the final continent to be breached six weeks ago, when infected Antarctic and subantarctic migratory seabirds were found dead and sick in Western Australia and South Australia.<\/p>\n The virus has now been confirmed in more than 100 individual birds and air surveillance has recorded the\u00a0first m<\/a>ass mortality event<\/a>\u00a0from the disease, in South Australia. Detections have also been confirmed in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.<\/p>\n