Lost for 50 Years, This Tiny Dragon Now Needs 500 to Be Safe

The post Lost for 50 Years, This Tiny Dragon Now Needs 500 to Be Safe appeared first on A-Z Animals.

Dragons are typically the stuff of legends and folklore. In Australia, this is not the case. The country was once a hotspot for a dragon species that was both quick and wily.

Over time, expansion and progress destroyed the dragons’ habitat, and the species was presumed to be extinct. That is, until one fateful day in 2023 when the species was rediscovered.

Recently, Australia’s tiny “dragon” has gotten a second chance at life. This time around, the Victorian grassland earless dragon is being fiercely protected in hopes that the species will one day again be self-sustaining and become a conservation success story in Australia.

Victorian Grassland Earless Dragons Were Once Thought Extinct

The Victorian grassland earless dragon was believed to be the first lizard species to go extinct in Australia in the modern era. During the 1960s, the population declined significantly. By 1969, the last of the dragons had been spotted in the wild.

It was not until February 2023 that two ecologists exploring the Bacchus Marsh in Melbourne snapped a photo that would change everything. Unbeknownst to the ecologists, they had found a Victorian grassland earless dragon. The conservation response was immediate.

The Victorian grassland earless dragon is quite small. At just six inches long with no external ear openings, the light-brown lizard with three white stripes running the length of its body is very cagey. Their coloring allows them to easily camouflage themselves in their environment, and their size allows them to hide in burrows or holes in the ground.

Despite these challenges, in the days after their rediscovery, sixteen Victorian grassland earless dragons were brought into captivity. This allowed them to live in a controlled environment, free from danger.

The site where the lizards were located is privately owned. The government has yet to designate it as a protected site or offer to purchase the property from the owners. However, plans are being discussed to purchase a total of 1,500 acres to sustain populations of Victorian grassland earless dragons. In total, six separate populations must be self-sustaining over the next 50 years if the Victorian grassland earless dragon is to avoid a second extinction.

Where the Last Wild Victorian Grassland Earless Dragons Live

Before urban development and agriculture destroyed all but 0.5% of the Victorian grassland earless dragons’ habitat, the lizards lived abundantly in grasslands between Melbourne and Geelong. Just how many dragons lived in these regions is unknown. It is also a mystery when the population began to experience a significant decline.

What is known is that by 1969, the last of the species was witnessed in the wild. That is, until 2023, when a miraculous discovery was made. A population of Victorian grassland earless dragons was living peacefully on a plot of land, unaware that they were the last of their species.

The exact plot of land is private property on the outskirts of Victoria. The location has been kept under wraps to ensure the lizards in the wild remain undisturbed.

To determine how many Victorian grassland earless dragons live on the property and to potentially discover other small populations in the surrounding areas, the Victorian and federal governments are working together to fund a trial using dogs trained to sniff out Victorian grassland earless dragons. This is a necessary move given how quickly the lizards move and how well they hide.

The Victorian grassland earless dragons are not being left to fend for themselves in their remaining wild habitat. Instead, zoos are stepping in to ensure the dragons are not classified as extinct a second time.

How Is Melbourne Zoo Keeping Victorian Grassland Earless Dragons from Going Extinct?

After the Victorian grassland earless dragon was rediscovered in 2023, it was clear something had to be done to ensure the small lizards did not go extinct for a second time. With just a plot of land outside of Victoria being the last known place where the Victorian grassland earless dragons live in the wild, Melbourne Zoo stepped in to start a captive breeding program.

The program is modeled after the successful Canberra grassland earless dragon captive breeding program. Currently, there are 50 Victorian grassland earless dragons being homed at the zoo. The goal is to have a population of 500 lizards before releasing any into the wild.

Not just any Victorian grassland earless dragons can be put together to mate. Genetic diversity is key to helping the lizards survive in the wild. Because of this, each pair is carefully chosen to live together and breed. In many instances, the two lizards are happy with one another. From time to time, the pairing does not work out. When this happens, another mate needs to be chosen.

In the controlled environment of the Melbourne Zoo, the Victorian grassland earless dragons have a great chance of survival. According to Garry Peterson, who is Zoos Victoria’s Acting Director of Wildlife Conservation and Science, the true test of the program’s success is breeding in the wild.

“Success is having more populations established in the wild,” Peterson explained to The Guardian, “because we have a conservation breeding program.”

By the time the captive breeding program reaches its goal, there will be twice as many Victorian grassland earless dragons in captivity as there currently are in the wild. While this is an improvement, it is still far from ensuring the long-term survival of the grassland earless dragons.

Threats That Continue to Plague Victorian Grassland Earless Dragons

With the Victorian grassland earless dragons confined to a single location in the wild, their future is precarious at best. As the University of Melbourne’s Brendan Wintle explained, all it takes is “one bit of bad luck,” and the grassland earless dragons could go extinct for a second time.

“One bit of bad luck in that place,” Wintle told The Guardian, whether it’s disease, whether it’s fire, whether it’s predation, it could even be predation from other native species, you could see the end of the species in the wild.”

With the wildfires that have plagued Australia, this clearly poses a threat to the Victorian grassland earless dragons. Other threats that the little lizards face include:

The future of the Victorian grassland earless dragons is uncertain. Melbourne Zoo is doing its part with its captive breeding program to grow the population to the point where they can one day be released to the wild. But with “all your eggs in one basket,” according to Wintle, if something goes amiss, the grassland earless dragons may be lost forever.

The post Lost for 50 Years, This Tiny Dragon Now Needs 500 to Be Safe appeared first on A-Z Animals.