Australia is ill-equipped to preserve and protect its threatened native wildlife and a national gene bank should be established urgently, conservation scientists say.
While native plants are preserved in seed banks as part of national and international schemes, there is no such program for the country’s native animals.
Australia has one of the worst extinction rates in the world, with more than 20 birds and 20 mammals lost since European settlement. Of the 1756 species listed as threatened, 176 are critically endangered, 671 endangered and 806 vulnerable. Another six are considered conservation dependent.
Read the full, original story here: Frozen Zoo Vital for Species’ Future