Senate launches inquiry into threatened species 'extinction crisis’

The Senate has launched an inquiry into Australia’s threatened species crisis after an investigation of national threatened species management by Guardian Australia revealed problems including poor monitoring and a lack of funding.

The southern corroboree frog is critically endangered, with
fewer than 50 individuals recorded in the wild in 2012.

The inquiry, initiated by Greens senator Janet Rice and supported by Labor and crossbenchers on Wednesday, will examine issues including the country’s alarming rate of species decline, the adequacy of Commonwealth laws that are supposed to protect threatened wildlife, and the effectiveness of funding for threatened species. 

Scientists have described the situation confronting Australia’s threatened species as a “national disgrace” and the systems and laws that are supposed to protect them as “broken”.

Read the story from The Guardian by Lisa Cox - “Senate launches inquiry into threatened species 'extinction crisis’.”