Australia’s lizards and snakes are facing a far more precarious future than previously understood, with a new review led by Monash University researchers revealing that around 127 species, or just over 13 per cent of Australia’s terrestrial lizards and snakes, are now likely to be threatened with extinction – almost double previous estimates.
Published in Pacific Conservation Biology, the review brings together leading reptile experts from across Australia to assess progress since the landmark 2017 Action Plan for Australian Lizards and Snakes.
The findings paint a concerning picture of worsening threats, inadequate monitoring and insufficient conservation action despite growing knowledge of Australia’s unique reptile fauna.
The review concludes that many species remain overlooked because they have not yet been adequately assessed.
Data Deficient species are 5.4 times more likely to be threatened than species with sufficient information, while species yet to be formally evaluated are three times more likely to be threatened.
First author Professor David Chapple, from Monash University’s School of Biological Sciences, said the findings show Australia is still failing to keep pace with the conservation needs of one of its most distinctive groups of animals.
“Australia is home to around 10 per cent of the world’s lizard and snake diversity, yet they remain one of our least understood and least monitored groups of vertebrates,” Professor Chapple said.
“Without coordinated conservation, sustained monitoring and better investment in research, we risk losing species before we fully understand them.”
The review identifies an escalating combination of pressures driving declines, including climate change, increasingly severe bushfires, habitat destruction, invasive predators such as cats and foxes, invasive grasses, disease and emerging environmental threats.
It also outlines 11 recommendations to strengthen conservation efforts nationally.
Senior author Mr Jules Farquhar, a Monash University researcher whose PhD is supervised by Professor Chapple, said the review demonstrates how quickly conservation challenges are evolving.
“The threats facing Australia’s reptiles are becoming more complex and more intense. This review provides an evidence-based roadmap for where governments, researchers and conservation managers need to focus their efforts if we want to prevent further declines.”
Since the previous national assessment in 2017, Australia’s known terrestrial lizard and snake fauna has grown by almost 12 per cent, reflecting continued species discovery.
However, the researchers warn that newly described species are often poorly known and can be at greater risk because their distributions are typically small and their conservation status remains uncertain.
The authors argue that improving recovery planning, accelerating conservation assessments, increasing monitoring, supporting taxonomic research and conducting regular national reviews will be essential to protecting Australia’s globally significant reptile diversity into the future.
