7% of Australia’s reptiles face extinction

Noel Kirkpatrick

Populations of the grassland earless dragon (Tympanocryptis pinguicolla) have been declining, mostly because of feral cats. (Photo: John Wombey/CSIRO/WIkimedia Commons)

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) released its latest update to the Red List, a rundown of threatened species around the globe, and a look at one particular continent is eye-opening: Almost all of Australia’s reptiles are on the list.

The Red List now includes 975 Australian reptiles, which is nearly every species on the continent. The majority of them are endemic to the continent. Seven percent of the species face extinction if action isn’t taken…