The Christmas Island flying fox, described as 'incredibly cute and fluffy', is critically endangered and lacks a recovery plan, with conservation advice more than a decade out of date. The species is the last native mammal on Christmas Island, located 1,550km off north-west Western Australia.
Animal ecologist Dr Annabel Dorrestein from Western Sydney University, who has studied the species for nine years, said the flying fox is smaller and fluffier than mainland Australian species, resembling a teddy bear. Weighing about 400g, it is a keystone species vital for pollination and seed dispersal.
Population counts have declined sharply. In the 1980s, about 2,000 bats were estimated at Hosnies Spring, one of two main roost sites; recent counts by Dorrestein found fewer than 400. The bats face threats from habitat destruction, feral cats, and yellow crazy ants.
The species is Australia's only critically endangered mammal without a recovery plan. In March, then environment minister Tanya Plibersek confirmed a decision that 176 species would no longer require a plan. An environment department spokesperson said conservation advice was 'in effect', but Professor Justin Welbergen, a flying fox expert, called it 'severely out of date'.
Professor John Woinarski from Charles Darwin University warned that a severe cyclone could wipe out the species, as it relies on a handful of sites. 'It still occurs only on one island. If a severe cyclone went through that one site... it could be gone,' he said.
