Fauna of Australia in Australia, feeding on sea grass in coastal areas. The destruction of sea grass beds is a threat to the survival of this species. Eleven species of seal—family Pinnipedia—live off the southern coast. Australia and its territories are home to around 800 species of bird; 45% of these are endemic to Australia. The fossil record of birds in Australia is patchy; however, there are records of the ancestors of contemporary species as early as the Late Oligocene. Birds with a Gondwanan history include the flightless ratites (the emu and southern cassowary), megapodes (the malleefowl and Australian brush-turkey), and a huge
Mallee emu-wren Fauna Guarantee Action Statement have been drafted for the species in Victoria (DSE 2007). Bushfires in the Ngarkat Conservation Park in 2014 rendered the mallee emu-wren "functionally extinct" in South Australia, but initial reintroductions of captive-bred birds from Victoria have shown signs of success. Mallee emu-wren The mallee emu-wren ("Stipiturus mallee") is a species of bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. It is endemic to Australia. Its natural habitat is temperate grassland. It is threatened by habitat loss. The mallee emu-wren is one of three species of the genus "Stipiturus", commonly known as emu-wrens. It was first described in