PLAINS-WANDERER BIRD JOINS KOALA ON NSW ICONIC SPECIES LIST

PLAINS-WANDERER BIRD

NSW Minister for the Environment Mark Speakman said the newly born birds are the first successful zoo-bred plains-wanderers in more than 30 years under a joint Office of Environment & Heritage and Taronga Zoo partnership. 

“In the past decade plains-wanderer numbers have dropped 80 to 90 per cent due to habitat loss – there are as few as 200 remaining in the wild,” Mr Speakman said.

The five species currently listed as iconic are the brush-tailed rock-wallaby, the koala, the southern corroboree frog, the malleefowl and the Wollemi pine. They are listed as iconic for their social, cultural and economic importance.