Editing Fauna of Australia (section)

==Invasive species==
[[Image:Bufo marinus from Australia.JPG|thumb|The poisonous [[cane toad]]]]
{{Main|Invasive species in Australia}}
Introduction of exotic fauna in Australia by design, accident and natural processes has led to a considerable number of [[invasive species|invasive]], [[feral]] and [[pest (organism)|pest]] species which have flourished and now impact the environment adversely. Introduced organisms affect the environment in a number of ways. [[Rabbit]]s render land economically useless by eating everything.<ref>Egerton, pp. 106–107.</ref> [[Red fox]]es affect local [[endemic]] fauna by [[predation]] while the [[cane toad]] poisons the predators by being eaten.<ref>Egerton, pp. 105, 389.</ref> Some [[water flea]]s may have been introduced to Australia by humans<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Karabanov |first1=Dmitry P. |last2=Bekker |first2=Eugeniya I. |last3=Shiel |first3=Russell J. |last4=Kotov |first4=Alexey A. |date=2018-03-27 |title=Invasion of a Holarctic Planktonic cladoceran ''Daphnia galeata'' Sars (Crustacea: Cladocera) in the Lower Lakes of South Australia |journal=[[Zootaxa]] |volume=4402 |issue=1 |pages=136–148 |doi=10.11646/zootaxa.4402.1.6 |pmid=29690281 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324041905}}</ref> or birds.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Karabanov |first1=Dmitry P. |last2=Bekker |first2=Eugeniya I. |last3=Garibian |first3=Petr G. |last4=Shiel |first4=Russell J. |last5=Kobayashi  |first5=Tsuyoshi |last6=Taylor |first6=Derek J. |last7=Kotov |first7=Alexey A. |date=2022-02-15 |title=Multiple Recent Colonizations of the Australian Region by the ''Chydorus sphaericus'' Group (Crustacea: Cladocera) |journal=[[Water (journal)|Water]] |volume=14 |issue=4 |pages=594 |doi=10.3390/w14040594 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2022Water..14..594K }}</ref> Other invasive species include birds ([[Common mynah|Indian mynah]]), fish ([[common carp]]), insects ([[red imported fire ant]]), [[mollusc]]s ([[Asian mussel]]). The problem is compounded by invasive exotic [[flora]] as well as introduced diseases, fungi and parasites. An example of this is Blue Green Algae, which is spreading through many bodies of water in rural Victoria, such as the Gippsland Lakes.

Costly, laborious and time-consuming efforts at control of these species has met with little success and this continues to be a major problem area in the conservation of Australia's biodiversity.<ref>{{Cite web|last=wildlife-reporter|date=2017-07-14|title=The damage of invasive species in Australia|url=https://wildlife-reporter.com/2017/07/14/the-damage-of-invasive-species-in-australia/|access-date=2021-10-30|website=Wildlife-reporter.com|language=en|archive-date=30 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211030165443/https://wildlife-reporter.com/2017/07/14/the-damage-of-invasive-species-in-australia/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Many of the introduced species are not regulated through wildlife services and can be regularly hunted year round.{{Cn|date=August 2021}} Some states even fund hunting initiatives though the efficacy of these programs are disputed.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Is hunting conservation?|url=https://invasives.org.au/our-work/feral-animals/hunting-conservation/|access-date=2021-08-26|website=Invasive Species Council|language=en-AU}}</ref>

According to a 2023 report co-authored by biologist [[Tim Low]], invasive species are the leading cause of native Australian animal extinctions since the 1960s.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-11-08 |title=Since 1960, Australia has lost 23 native animals in an extinction wave |language=en-AU |work=ABC News |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2023-11-08/native-species-lost-to-modern-extinction/103055638 |access-date=2023-11-08}}</ref>