South Australian Bassian Thrush, Western Bassian Thrush  |  

Zoothera lunulata halmaturina

Status: Endangered on the EPBC Act list

The Bassian thrush (Zoothera lunulata) has a body length of 25–30 cm and a body mass of around 100 g. The birds have large straight bills, with a slight hook at the tip, long wings, a short tail with rounded tip, and very long strong legsThe main factors that make the subspecies eligible for listing in the Endangered category is that the population has experienced a severe decline in population in the last three generations (11.6 years; Bird et al. 2020) (Boulton et al. 2021). This severe reduction in population was mainly caused by the 2019/2020 bushfires on Kangaroo Island. Both the extent of occurrence (EOO; 14,000 km2) and area of occupancy (AOO; 510 km2) are estimated to be contracting. There are estimated to be 3,300 mature individuals in the wild with a declining trend (Boulton et al. 2021).

Government evidence of impact of climate change:

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  • Australian Government, Conservation Advice, Zoothera lunulata halmaturina

    Currently; inappropriate fire regimes are the major threat and can make remaining habitat unsuitable for the subspecies (Garnett et al.; 2011).
    Drought impacts on the subspecies are likely to be far higher if moist gullies become less productive (van Weenan; pers comm.; 2014).