A bat's end : the Christmas Island pipistrelle and extinction in Australia

It is the evening of 26 August 2009 on Christmas Island. The last known pipistrelle emerges from its daytime shelter. Scientists, desperate about its conservation, set up an elaborate maze of netting to try to catch it. It is a forlorn and futile exercise even if captured, there is little future in just one bat. But the bat evades the trap easily, and continues foraging. It is not recorded again that night, and not at all the next night. The bat is never again recorded. The scientists search all nearby areas over the following nights. It has gone. There are no more bats. Its corpse is not--will never be--found. It is the silent, unobtrusive death of the last individual of a species. It is extinction; an unusual extinction in that it was both witnessed and its timing precise, and in that its fate was predicted--and seen--with hindsight, its pathway to that destiny was like watching in slow motion the frightening inexorability of a car crash. This book is about that bat; it is about those scientists; it is about that island; but mostly it is an attempt to understand that extinction. It is a story with many components and many voices. Cover......Page 1 Title page......Page 2 Copyright......Page 3 Foreword......Page 4 Contents......Page 6 The end......Page 10 1 Introduction......Page 12 Some stylistic conventions......Page 15 Disclaimer......Page 16 2 The conservation value and challenge of islands......Page 18 Setting......Page 24 Human history and governance......Page 25 Christmas Island – biodiversity and ecology......Page 50 Early changes......Page 62 Conflict – mining and conservation response......Page 69 Invasive species, and their management......Page 77 Hunting......Page 93 National Park and conservation responses......Page 95 Island life and ecological sustainability......Page 97 The fate of Christmas Island nature......Page 98 Historical record......Page 104 Description and ecology......Page 106 Scientific record......Page 109 Taxonomic position......Page 111 The pattern of decline......Page 113 Lazarus?......Page 127 The characteristics of extinctions......Page 128 Parallels – similar stories......Page 129 The search for cause of the pipistrelle’s decline......Page 132 Denouement......Page 150 Moral and ethical framework......Page 154 Policy and legislation......Page 156 What was done – threatened species listing......Page 158 What was done – the recovery plan......Page 159 The expendability of species – triage and landscape-scale conservation......Page 161 The management response – the environment department (and its parks service component)......Page 169 What was done – the research......Page 172 Captive breeding – emergency response......Page 176 Foundation (external) drivers – the momentum of history and use of the island......Page 180 The logistical impediment......Page 184 What was done – community support and lobbying......Page 185 Cry wolf ! – they don’t really go extinct do they?......Page 187 A summary of the failings......Page 188 Culpability......Page 189 8 Personal perspectives, responses and responsibilities......Page 192 David James......Page 193 Bob Debus......Page 198 Lindy Lumsden......Page 199 Peter Garrett......Page 207 Greg Richards......Page 209 Barry Traill......Page 213 Brian Lacy......Page 215 Chris Tidemann......Page 216 Peter Cochrane......Page 219 Alistair Graham......Page 221 Island future......Page 230 Progressing the pipistrelle’s legacy......Page 232 Lessons for the conservation of biodiversity elsewhere......Page 233 Meditation......Page 237 Acknowledgements......Page 240 Endnotes......Page 242 References......Page 246 Index......Page 270 It is the evening of 26 August 2009 on Christmas Island. The last known pipistrelle emerges from its day-time shelter. Scientists, desperate about its conservation, set up a maze of netting to try to catch it. It is a forlorn and futile exercise - even if captured, there is little future in just one bat. But the bat evades the trap easily, and continues foraging. It is not recorded again that night, and not at all the next night. The bat is never again recorded. The scientists search all nearby areas over the following nights. It has gone. There are no more bats. Its corpse is not, will never be, found. It is the silent, unobtrusive death of the last individual. It is extinction. This book is about that bat, about those scientists, about that island. But mostly it is an attempt to understand that extinction; an unusual extinction, because it was predicted, witnessed and its timing is precise. A Bat's End is a compelling forensic examination of the circumstances and players surrounding the extinction of the Christmas Island pipistrelle. A must-read for environmental scientists, policy-makers, and organisations and individuals with an interest in conservation