Desert bandicoot

Perameles eremiana

Blamed on foxes

IUCN status: Extinct

Last seen: Perameles eremiana were last seen in 1943 at well 33, Canning Stock Route (IUCN 2023)

IUCN claim: “Its population decline was probably due to introduced predators: cats and foxes.”

Studies in support

Desert bandicoots were last confirmed at the Canning Stock Route 13-18 years after foxes arrived (Wallach and Lundgren 2025).

Studies not in support

No studies

Is the threat claim evidence-based?

No studies were found evidencing a link between foxes and the extinction of desert bandicoots.

Evidence linking Perameles eremiana 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 Perameles eremiana 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