Australia's Bold Plan to Save Wildlife From Foxes

Every single day, European red foxes kill more than a million native animals across Australia, pushing dozens of species toward extinction.

Now, scientists have a plan to fight back. After 18 years of research, Australia is unveiling its first updated national fox strategy since 2008, and it could save some of the country's most beloved wildlife.

"Australia has the worst record of mammal extinctions of any country in the world, around 40 species, and the overwhelming cause for those extinctions has been predation by foxes and cats," says Sarah Legge, a professor at Charles Darwin University who authored the draft plan.

The numbers are staggering. An estimated 1.7 million foxes roam from central Queensland down to South Australia and across Western Australia. Each year, they kill upwards of 367 million native mammals, 111 million birds, and 88 million reptiles.

The plan doesn't promise to eliminate every fox. That's simply impossible given how widespread they've become. Instead, it focuses laser attention on a dozen species teetering on the brink of extinction, including the critically endangered Gilbert's potoroo, the eastern quoll, and seven species of freshwater turtles.

The solution involves creating more fox-free islands and fenced predator-proof zones where vulnerable animals can thrive safely. It also calls for better coordination between state and federal governments to tackle the problem together rather than in scattered, ineffective efforts.

The Ripple Effect

The environmental payoff extends far beyond saving individual species. Foxes currently cause about $190 million in damage to Australian biodiversity every year. The plan's price tag of $175 million over five years would more than pay for itself in environmental benefits.

This represents a massive funding increase from the current $5 to $7 million spent annually. But ecologist Bronwyn Hradsky from the University of Melbourne says sustained investment is the only path forward. "If you've started fox control you're basically committed to continuing it, and you're looking at really substantial, long-term funding," she says.

Rob Brewster from the Invasive Species Council notes that unlike climate change or habitat loss, fox predation is something Australia can actively control right now. "The trajectory for a lot of our native mammals is still downward," he says, "but we have the knowledge to change that."

The draft plan is open for public comment and maps out objectives over a 30-year timeline. Scientists say this long-term commitment is exactly what's needed to reverse decades of decline and prevent further extinctions.

After nearly two decades of learning everything possible about foxes and their prey, Australia finally has a roadmap to protect its unique wildlife for generations to come.