Biodiversity
‘Just bad luck’: Separate strains of bird flu found at Victorian egg farms
More than 560,000 chickens have been destroyed at two farms in Victoria’s west as officials confirmed two different strains of avian influenza were detected at the properties.
- by Bianca Hall
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Marine life
‘This is a really dark day’: Report reveals perilous state of WA’s little penguin population
A damning population report conducted by scientists in November was finally handed to Rockingham councillors on Wednesday night.
- by Holly Thompson
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Tanya Plibersek
‘Completely unacceptable’: Environmental offsets scheme riddled with breaches
The federal government’s first national audit of the environmental offsets scheme has found many projects are not fulfilling their commitments.
- by Ben Cubby
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Housing crisis
How an owl and a flying fox may stop the government’s housing reforms
Ku-ring-gai Council is claiming the Minns government has broken the law with its plan for development in special transport hubs.
- by Andrew Taylor
Demand for steak fuelling deforestation and extinction in NSW
The NSW biodiversity outlook suggests the state is set lose nearly a quarter of all known plant and animal species in the next 100 years, and habitat loss from land clearing especially in the agricultural industry is the biggest cause.
- by Caitlin Fitzsimmons
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Marine life
Major WA tourism drawcard still in the lurch as businesses consider closing shop
There is still no plan for a new Penguin Island discovery centre more than a year on from a decision to stop an on-island build.
- by Holly Thompson
The gold-flecked American lothario who got lost in a sewage plant
The off-course plover, covered in golden flecks that indicate his readiness to take a mate, should have landed in the Arctic for his species’ breeding season.Â
- by Bianca Hall
The aggressive native birds muscling rivals out of Melbourne
Ravens are among the adaptable, aggressive native birds thriving in Australia’s large cities, at the expense of smaller native and even some introduced species.
- by Adam Carey
Fire ants attack a nest of green ants
Invasive fire ants can injure and kill Australian wildlife, such as koalas, echidnas and turtles, particularly defenceless hatchlings.
Drying and dying: South West forests face potential ‘collapse’
From Albany to Kalbarri, native vegetation which has evolved to cope with heat and little water is failing to withstand the extra burden from climate change.
- by Peter Milne
Rock snot to spiky crawling fish: Pests threatening to reshape Australia
The wood-boring beetle wreaking havoc on Perth’s grand Moreton Bay figs is just one of many invasive species keeping experts up at night.
- by Nick O'Malley