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Conservation Introduction Plan Species Conservation Plan A Conservation Introduction Plan for the Christmas Island Blue-tailed skink, Cryptoblepharus egeriae From: Christmas Island and Taronga Conservation Society, Sydney To: Cocos (Keeling) Islands 1 How to cite this report Director of National Parks 2020. A Conservation Introduction action plan for the Christmas Island Blue-tailed skink, Cryptoblepharus egeriae, from Christmas Island and Taronga Zoo to the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. Director of National Parks, Canberra. Prepared by and CIRAP Parks Australia Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment GPO Box 787, Canberra 2601 © Copyright Commonwealth of Australia, 2020 With the exception of logos and cover images or where otherwise noted, this report is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Cover photograph: Blue-tailed Skink (Cryptoblepharus egeriae), Parks Australia 2 2 Summary This document is a comprehensive plan for the introduction of the Christmas Island blue-tailed skink (Cryptoblepharus egeriae) to the Cocos (Keeling) islands group and has been updated following the first release on Pulu Blan in September 2019. The purpose of this reintroduction program is to establish a wild population as part of this species recovery and security. Cryptoblepharus egeriae is listed as Critically Endangered under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and is endemic to Christmas Island. Historically, this species was very common across the island, however, since the 1990s their population has experienced significant declines. In 2009, 66 C. egeriae were taken into captivity to secure the species future through captive breeding. By the end of 2010 C. egeriae was presumed extinct in the wild. The cause of decline is thought to be due to the predation and competition pressures of introduced species including yellow crazy ants, cats (Felis catus), black rats (Rattus rattus), centipedes (Scolependra sp), Asian wolf snake (Lycodon capucinus), weeds, birds and geckos (Hemidactylus frenatus and Gehyra mutilata). Habitat loss and disease are also potential threatening processes. Captive breeding has been very successful and currently about 1500 C. egeriae exist in captivity across two locations (Christmas Island and Taronga Zoo, Sydney). Threat mitigation of yellow crazy ants, cats and rats is underway and will go a long way to reducing the pressure on the reptiles if they are reintroduced back to Christmas Island. The continued presence of wolf snakes and centipedes and the inability to control or eradicate these species easily is of high concern and poses a great risk of never being able to successfully reintroduce this species back to their native habitat. Finding solutions for reintroduction beyond captive breeding is critical for avoiding extinction of both species. This document addresses the legal, ethical, ecological and logistical issues associated with moving and introducing C. egeriae to the Cocos (Keeling) Islands as an alternative to wild release on Christmas Island. 3 3 Contents 1 How to cite this report ....................................................................................................................... 2 2 Summary ............................................................................................................................................ 3 1 Project management .......................................................................................................................... 4 1.1 Proponent ................................................................................................................................... 4 1.2 Project Sponsor: ......................................................................................................................... 4 1.3 Project co-ordinator: .................................................................................................................. 4 1.4 Project oversight ........................................................................................................................ 4 1.5 Resourcing .................................................................................................................................. 6 2 Project rationale ................................................................................................................................. 7 2.1 Goal ............................................................................................................................................ 7 2.2 Objectives ................................................................................................................................... 7 2.3 Type of conservation action ....................................................................................................... 7 2.4 Taxonomy of the species ............................................................................................................ 8 2.5 Legal Status of the species ......................................................................................................... 8 2.6 Documented recovery actions ................................................................................................... 8 2.7 Justification for conservation action .......................................................................................... 9 2.8 Consequences of not proceeding with the proposed action ..................................................... 9 2.9 Criteria for Success ..................................................................................................................... 9 2.10 Previous work ........................................................................................................................... 10 2.11 Number of individuals of the species being conserved and proposed project timing ............ 11 3 Biology and ecology .......................................................................................................................... 14 3.1 Morphology .............................................................................................................................. 14 3.2 Reproductive cycle and timing ................................................................................................. 14 3.3 Distribution and abundance ..................................................................................................... 14 3.4 Habitat requirements ............................................................................................................... 14 3.5 Nutritional requirements ......................................................................................................... 14 3.6 Reasons for decline and current threats .................................................................................. 14 4 Source environment, population and distribution ........................................................................... 21 4.1 Site tenure ................................................................................................................................ 21 4.2 Source environment ................................................................................................................. 21 4.3 Demographics of source population ........................................................................................ 21 4.4 Impact of the removal of individuals from the source population .......................................... 21 4.5 Methods of collection and transfer .......................................................................................... 21 5 Holding site conditions ..................................................................................................................... 23 5.1 Site tenure ................................................................................................................................ 23 5.2 Holding site environment ......................................................................................................... 23 5.3 Species reproduction in captivity ............................................................................................. 23 5.4 Managing known and potential threats ................................................................................... 23 6 Host environment............................................................................................................................. 24 6.1 Site tenure and level of conservation protection .................................................................... 24 6.2 Host environment..................................................................................................................... 24 6.3 Is the site part of the historically known range for the species? ............................................. 27 6.4 Why the species cannot be conserved within its known range ............................................... 27 6.5 How the habitat requirements of the species will be met ....................................................... 27 6.6 Managing known and potential threats ................................................................................... 27 6.7 Release and facilities to be used .............................................................................................. 28 6.8 Consequences of the translocation on the viability of the host population ............................ 28 6.9 Dispersal of individuals
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