The Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) has launched a genetic rescue mission to save one of NSW’s rarest birds from extinction.
Senior Threatened Species Officer at DPIE, Kelly Roche said there were only around 2,500 Eastern bristlebirds remaining in the wild, most of which occurred in small, isolated populations across eastern NSW and southern Queensland.
“Small, disconnected populations can suffer from low genetic diversity, which compromises their ability to breed and leaves them extremely vulnerable to threats such as wildfire, habitat loss, disease and climate change impacts,” Ms Roche said.
“With so few birds remaining, we’ve reached a critical point where we must pull out all the stops to bring this endangered bird back from the brink, before it is too late,” she said.
“That’s why under the Saving our Species program we are taking advantage of a cutting-edge conservation technique known as ‘genetic rescue’ in a bid to turn the tide on Eastern bristlebird extinction in New South Wales.”
Ms Roche said genetic rescue improved resilience by increasing genetic diversity in smaller populations through the careful introduction of breeding individuals from suitable larger populations.
She said samples from wild Eastern bristlebirds had been gathered from across their entire range to obtain information on the genetic characteristics of each population.
“We will use this knowledge to selectively breed birds from different populations, with the aim of improving disease resistance, increasing genetic diversity and lifting fertility rates, particularly in the smallest population of birds located in northern NSW,” she said.
“The end goal is to see resilient populations of healthy birds, able to sustain population growth in the wild.”
Ms Roche said along with genetic rescue, DPIE threatened species experts would continue to implement on-ground habitat management actions, which were also helping to reverse the bird’s decline.
