21 native species added to threatened list
Australia’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) threatened species list was updated on March 5, with new additions including two dolphin species – the Australian humpback dolphin (Sousa sahulensis) and Australian snubfin dolphin (Orcaella heinsohni).
“This announcement shows that species like the Irwin’s turtle, named after famed conservationist Steve Irwin, are now threatened with extinction due to the impacts of disease, habitat destruction and the impacts of invasive species,” said James Trezise, director of the Biodiversity Council.
“A number of species listed, such as the western mud minnow, are increasingly being impacted by drought and temperature extremes, highlighting the threats that our native wildlife due to climate change. Listing species is an important first step to recovering them and tackling the key threats driving their decline.”
The EPBC Act’s threatened species list is the national register of the conservation status of Australian wildlife and ecological communities. The states and territories have similar catalogues that detail the conservation status of species under their jurisdictions. But from an international perspective, it’s usually the EPBC Act lists that count.
“Australia is a global biodiversity hotspot, with plants and animals that occur nowhere else on the planet, so it’s critical that we safeguard our vanishing wildlife and invest in their recovery before they are gone for good,” James said.
“It’s estimated we need to invest $2 billion per year in threatened species recovery to prevent the loss of Australian wildlife, but we do not see anywhere near that level of investment from the federal government.”
Threatened fauna and flora may be listed under Section 178 of the EPBC Act in any one of the following categories: extinct, extinct in the wild, critically endangered, endangered, vulnerable, conservation dependent.
“Listing species as threatened is an important step in beginning their path to recovery,” said Dr Euan Ritchie, Biodiversity Council member and professor of wildlife ecology and conservation at Deakin University in Melbourne.
“Of course, what we dearly all want to see is the list of threatened species declining, sharply, showing that conservation success in Australia is accelerating.
“Regrettably, we are still a long way from that, and species moving from vulnerable to endangered or critically endangered means they’re now ever closer to extinction.”
The following species were added or updated on the EPBC Act list on March 5 2025:
Animals
Western Victorian blackfish (Gadopsis sp. SWV)
–Listed as endangered
Giant burrowing frog/ Eastern owl frog (Heleioporus australiacus australiacus)
–Listed as endangered
Southern owl frog/ Southern giant burrowing frog (Heleioporus australiacus flavopunctatus)
–Listed as endangered
Mount Ballow mountain frog (Philoria knowlesi)
–Listed as endangered
Irwin’s turtle / White-headed snapping turtle (Elseya irwini)
–Listed as vulnerable
Murray crayfish (Euastacus armatus)
–Listed as vulnerable
Western dwarf galaxias/ Western mud minnow (Galaxiella munda)
–Listed as vulnerable
Australian snubfin dolphin (Orcaella heinsohni)
–Listed as vulnerable
Australian humpback dolphin (Sousa sahulensis)
–Listed as vulnerable
Little tern (Sternula albifrons)
–Listed as vulnerable
Plants
Blackwall Range kurrajong (Brachychiton guymeri)
–Listed as critically endangered
Wadbilliga Ash (Eucalyptus paliformis)
–Listed as critically endangered
Eucalyptus scopulorum
–Listed as critically endangered
Nematolepis rhytidophylla
-Transferred from vulnerable to critically endangered
Grevillea rhizomatosa
-Transferred from vulnerable to critically endangered
Dwarf mountain pine (Pherosphaera fitzgeraldii)
–Transferred from endangered to critically endangered
Prostanthera tallowa
–Listed as endangered
Metcalfe’s greenhood (Pterostylis metcalfei)
–Listed as endangered
Ettrema Mallee Eucalyptus sturgissiana
–Listed as endangered
Woodland babingtonia (Kardomia silvestris)
–Listed as endangered
Monga tea-tree (Leptospermum thompsonii)
–Transferred from vulnerable to endangered
Three brothers wattle, Brother wattle, Northern brother wattle (Acacia courtii)
–Transferred from vulnerable to endangered
Kangaroo Island spider-orchid (Caladenia ovata)
–Transfer from vulnerable to endangered
Kaputar cassinia (Cassinia theodorii)
–Listed as endangered
Awl-leaved Boronia (Boronia subulifolia)
–Listed as endangered
Boronia deanei acutifolia
–Listed as endangered
Boronia deanei deanei
–Listed as endangered
