Echidnas and platypuses are the oldest mammal species on the planet, being almost 200 million years old.
However, of the four species of echidnas, two are now Critically Endangered, (the Sir David’s Long Beaked Echidna in Papua, and the Western Long Beaked Echidna in New Guinea), and the Eastern Long Beaked Echidna in New Guinea is listed as Vulnerable.
In 2015 the Short Beaked Echidna population living on Kangaroo Island was classified as Endangered by the South Australian government.
The mainland population of Short Beaked Echidnas is not officially classified as being of conservation concern, but the population numbers are unknown.
The leading researcher into echidnas, Dr Peggy Rismiller, said in 2004 that mainland echidnas were under threat of becoming endangered because the population was aging and not reproducing fast enough, Researchers at the Environment Institute in Adelaide University also consider that mainland echidnas are under more threat than is currently recognized.
Habitat loss, motor vehicles, introduced predators such as cats and foxes, agricultural chemicals and electric fences are killing off young echidnas before they can breed. (Most animals touch an electric fence with their nose and move away, however echidnas barge through and it kills them, so any electric fences should be placed high enough for an echidna to pass under safely.)
Dr Rismiller’s research has established that echidnas need a home range of about 200 hectares. A study in Queensland observed that echidnas moved between 3.6 km a day (Spring) and 2.7 km a day (Summer).
In mainland Australia the destruction of habitat means that existing populations are crowded into pockets of land that are too small to support young adults, who are then forced to move out. They might travel 30 or 40 kilometres to establish their own territory and are often killed on the journey.
Echidnas don’t breed until they are eight years old and the average female only produces one offspring every three to five years. Dr Rismiller found that in a female’s lifetime they might only produce one reproductively successful female, and therefore many populations are aging and could collapse.
Dr Rismiller has been based on Kangaroo Island and has extensively studied the echidna population there. It was due to the thirty years of Dr Rismiller’s close monitoring of the population that there was sufficient data in 2015 for the South Australian government to classify the Kangaroo Island echidna population as Endangered.
The Australian mainland’s echidnas are being studied by the Environment Institute at Adelaide University through their Echidna CSI project which gathers records of sightings of echidnas in the citizen science website iNaturalist at https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/projects/echidna-csi. All observations of echidnas in iNaturalist are automatically added to the Echidna CSI project, including observations in the Kangaroo Valley Echidna Counts.
The university has been involved with international genetic study of echidnas which, in 2021, mapped the echidna genome, with some very interesting findings. For instance they found that echidnas have only a very tiny stomach and no genes for acidic digestive juices. As they have no teeth it is thought that the chemical action taking place in the stomachs of other mammals in order to break down food, might be done by the coarse skin in the mouth, so the food can go from the mouth to the intestines and be absorbed from there.
The public is asked to send echidna scats to the university where they examine the DNA to analyse the health of echidnas in different parts of Australia, and determine what they are eating. The details of where to send echidna scats are here: https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/projects/echidna-csi/journal
In order to monitor Kangaroo Valley’s Short Beaked Echidna population the Kangaroo Valley Environment Group compares the number of sightings of Kangaroo Valley’s echidnas which have been recorded in the citizen science website iNaturalist during the same week each year. This year is the fourth annual Count.
To join in the Echidna Count please download the iNaturalist app and use it to photograph any echidnas you see. Between 9th and 15th September, all photos taken of echidnas in Kangaroo Valley using the iNaturalist app will automatically be included in the 2024 Kangaroo Valley Echidna Count project which is here: https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/projects/2024-kangaroo-valley-echidna-count
You can join the project to receive updates and journals by clicking on the “Join” tab near the top right hand corner of the project page.
There are short video guides on how to use iNaturalist here: https://help.inaturalist.org/en/support/solutions/folders/151000547795
There is a good, more detailed, step-by-step video guide made by an American user about how to use iNaturalist here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pvttbnKog4
If you have problems downloading or using the iNaturalist app you are welcome to send photos of KV echidnas taken during that week to me at ckswatson@gmail.com and I will add them to the project. Please add the details of where and when you saw the echidna. I may also be able to help you with any difficulty you are having with iNaturalist.
Echidnas are often found in areas with numerous logs and other fallen timber where they can forage and find shelter. Hollow logs are an important part of their habitat. They also sometimes shelter in rock crevices and boulder piles.
Things we can do to protect the valley’s echidnas include:
- preserve ground cover of logs, fallen timber, leaf litter and ground vegetation cover.
- preserve large living and dead trees, understorey trees and shrubs
- avoid dismantling areas of surface rock.
- replant trees, native shrubs and dense understorey foliage and ground covers
- encourage the natural regeneration of trees, understorey trees and shrubs
- control feral predators such as foxes and cats
- rest areas of native vegetation from grazing
- consider allowing burn piles to break down naturally rather than being burnt. The piles of vegetation make good shelter for echidnas and many other species such as bandicoots, and echidnas sometimes leave their puggles under piles of vegetation, branches and logs. If a pile is going to be burned, move the pile to an adjacent location before setting it on fire, so that any animals sheltering will escape.
- take care with hazard reduction burns.
- avoid installing electric fences at echidna height
- take care on ride-on mowers
- avoid using pesticides as this will reduce their available food.
Kate Watson
For Kangaroo Valley Environment Group
