Christmas Island is a small, 135 km2 island located in the Indian Ocean approximately 380 km south of Java. The island's unique biodiversity is under threat from anthropogenic change, as evidenced by the extinctions and declines in a range of endemic species. This includes the extinction of two native rat species, and the only two mammal extinctions in Australia in the last 50 years: the Christmas Island shrew (Crocidura trichura), and the Christmas Island pipistrelle bat (Pipistrellus murrayi). In addition, there have been significant population declines in most endemic birds, and all but one endemic reptile have been lost from the wild. These extinctions and declines point to an unidentified but widespread malaise within Christmas Island’s ecosystems.
The Lab of Animal Ecology has been involved in a range of projects to help inform conservation management of the remaining endemic Christmas Island fauna (e.g., see our Christmas Island Flying-Fox Research Program). Most recently in 2023, we have become involved in two large projects funded under the NESP Resilient Landscapes Hub, specifically to increase our ecological understanding of the two threatened apex predator species (the Christmas Island Hawk-Owl and the Christmas Island Goshawk) and to develop acoustic monitoring methods for threatened species in Christmas Island National Park.
The Lab of Animal Ecology has been involved in a range of projects to help inform conservation management of the remaining endemic Christmas Island fauna (e.g., see our Christmas Island Flying-Fox Research Program). Most recently in 2023, we have become involved in two large projects funded under the NESP Resilient Landscapes Hub, specifically to increase our ecological understanding of the two threatened apex predator species (the Christmas Island Hawk-Owl and the Christmas Island Goshawk) and to develop acoustic monitoring methods for threatened species in Christmas Island National Park.
