Western pebble mound mouse removed from threatened species

10/12/97

A small native rodent that builds mounds from small pebbles has been taken off the threatened species list following extensive surveys that revealed the animal was far more common than previously thought.

The western pebble mound mouse - which is found in the iron-ore rich Pilbara - builds mounds that cover up to nine square metres. Inside the mounds a series of passages lead to nesting chambers.

The mice carry the pebbles in their mouths. The stones can weigh as much as half their body weight.

Environment Minister Cheryl Edwardes said surveys and ecological studies over the past 10 years had shown the species was far more abundant and widespread than thought. These studies had been undertaken by Pilbara mining companies including BHP Iron Ore and Hammersley Iron in association with the Department of Conservation and Land Management.

An invertebrate - the spear-beaked cave shrimp - also has been removed from the list. This animal, which is found on Cape Range and Barrow Island, is vulnerable to changes in its habitat but it is not directly threatened.

Both species have been transferred to CALM's priority list of species.

Mrs Edwardes said another mammal, the mulgara 'hillieri', had been added to the endangered list following a review that split the previous single mulgara species into two distinct species.

Mulgaras inhabit an area that covers the Pilbara, western deserts, Goldfields, southern Northern Territory and north-west South Australia.

Two invertebrates have been added to the list. These are a millipede and a type of scorpion known from a single cave underneath Exmouth townsite.

Two species of eremophila have been removed from the declared rare flora list. These are the showy eremophila and swollen or bell-flowered eremophila. Both are found near Forrestania and are regenerating strongly following bushfires in 1994.

An additional 28 species of flora have been added to the declared rare list. These include an acacia that was rediscovered after having been presumed extinct. Other species have been included because of a range of threatening processes such as road maintenance, fire, increasing salinity, disease, mining and chemical spray drift.

The latest Declared Rare Flora list includes 321 species compared with 294 in 1996; the threatened fauna list has 107 species, one more than in 1996.

Media contacts: Ministerial Diana Russell Coote 9421 7777

CALM Gordon Wyre 9442 0302