Desert bettong

Bettongia anhydra

Blamed on foxes

IUCN status: Extinct

Last seen: Bettongia anhydra were last seen in 1933 in McEwin Hills, Lake Mackay, western NT (IUCN 2023)

IUCN claim: “The Desert Bettong was probably driven to extinction because of predation by introduced Red Foxes and feral domestic cats”

Studies in support

Desert bettongs were last confirmed at McEwin Hills, NT, 8-13 years after foxes arrived (Wallach and Lundgren 2025).

Studies not in support

No studies

Is the threat claim evidence-based?

NA

Evidence linking Bettongia anhydra to foxes. Last records of extirpated populations relative to earliest local records of foxes. Error bars show record uncertainty range. Predator arrival records were digitized from Fairfax 2019.
Evidence linking Bettongia anhydra to foxes. Last records of extirpated populations relative to earliest local records of foxes. Error bars show record uncertainty range. Predator arrival records were digitized from Fairfax 2019.

References

Fairfax, Dispersal of the introduced red fox (Vulpes vulpes) across Australia. Biol. Invasions 21, 1259-1268 (2019).

IUCN Red List. https://www.iucnredlist.org/ Accessed June 2023

Wallach A.D., Lundgren E.J. (2025) Review of evidence that foxes and cats cause extinctions of Australia’s endemic mammals. BioScience. DOI: 10.1093/biosci/biaf046