Endangered Species

In Australia we have an exceptionally high number of species that can only be found here.  What’s more the diversity or range of species is greater on the island than in many parts of the world. Yet we also have the worst extinction rate in the world!

Since European colonisation 28 species of Australian mammal have become extinct, 20 of them marsupials which existed no-where else in the world.  In total 126 species of plants and animals have vanished in just 200 years. In addition 182 species are classified as endangered, and 201 more are threatened. Many more are locally extinct or endangered, with many only surviving precariously on offshore islands or in captivity.

Why does this matter?
Biological diversity - or biodiversity - is a term we use to describe the variety of life on Earth. It refers to the wide variety of ecosystems and living organisms: animals, plants, their habitats and their genes. Each species has a role to play in an ecosystem - much like each part of our body has its own function. Often in nature though several species may fulfil a similar role in a particular ecosystem. This ensures if one species is lost the ecosystem as a whole will continue functioning. However if too many species are lost, as has happened in Australia since the arrival of Europeans, then the system starts to break down.

FAME is dedicated to saving our precious wildlife from extinction.