Along with climate change and habitat loss, invasive species is a leading threat to Australia’s wildlife.
Australia has one of the worst animal extinction records in the world, due mainly to invasive species. We are notorious for having lost by far the highest number of mammals in recent times, with foxes, cats or rabbits implicated in most of these extinctions.
Many island birds have been wiped out by introduced rats, and an exotic fungus has killed off frogs.
And the pace of invasion is by no means slowing down. Just one exotic pathogen Phytophthora cinnamomi threatens hundreds of plant species found nowhere else in the world, foxes and cats threaten the existence of many more mammals, and goats, pigs, camels, deer and others are degrading vast areas.
Weeds are increasingly dominating numerous ecosystems, fundamentally altering their composition and function, and invading the habitat of threatened species.
The Invasive Species Council campaigns to strengthen laws and policies to prevent future invasions and better protect the Australian environment against these threats.