Go Gorillas: Endangered Critters Fight Back

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In between all the gloomy news about the global environment, it is nice to hear some good news every so often.  

Last week the humpback whale was taken off the list of species vulnerable to extinction and scientists dramatically revised up the number of gorillas known to be surviving in the wild after finding another 125,000 in the Republic of Congo. 

It was previously thought there were less than 100,000 gorillas in Africa – now it looks like there might be more than 200,000.  

There are estimated to be about 40,000 humpback whales, with numbers having increased dramatically following bans on hunting introduced in the 1960s. 

The polar bear is also a marine mammal making a comeback.   Numbers have been increasing and are now around 25,000, while just forty years ago it was estimated there were perhaps only 5,000 left in the Arctic.  

This increase followed the introduction of hunting quotas.   

Closer to home, in 2005 a colony of platypus was found just minutes from the Hobart central business district.  

As cities around Australian improve water quality released into in rivers and streams, hopefully more platypus will be moving in.   

Bans on shooting of crocodiles in the Northern Territory have seen a resurgence of this species.  Not so long ago there were fewer than 5,000 saltwater crocs after the population was decimated by hunting.   Since the hunting ban, croc numbers have bounced back and are now estimated at 70,000.

And the good news extends to a small rat-kangaroo known as Gilbert’s Potoroo.  It is Australia’s rarest mammal and was thought extinct until 1994 when it was rediscovered near Albany on Western Australia’s south coast.

There is now a team working to increase numbers of this little critter, including though the establishment of a captive breeding program.  

I was also sent a photograph of a Bridled Nailtail wallaby from Scotia National Park near Broken Hill in June – and was surprised, as the species is considered endangered and according to official records is limited to Central Queensland. 

Some of the wallabies were successfully moved to Scotia about four years ago from a captive breeding program.
So it’s clearly not all bad news in our natural environment.

Published in The Land

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