Earless dragon models made by Canberra kids could help save endangered lizards
They are rarer than China's giant pandas, but grassland earless dragons get much less press — and next to nothing is spent on captive breeding programs.
And while the enigmatic, endangered lizards may not share the panda's cuddly appeal, those who love them are just as passionate about their survival.
In their drive to learn more about the earless dragon, ACT government ecologists are taking to building tiny life-size reptilian models to entice predators to attack them in the wild.
And they've enlisted students from Bonython Primary School, to help paint the models in realistic colour schemes.
Over coming months, researchers will place the models in the field, then sit back and watch.
Sarah Crisp, from the ACT government's Natural Resource Management organisation, said they wanted to know which animals found the reptiles tasty, and which habitat offered them the best protection.
"The models are made from clay, so any attacks made on the models we should be able to see," Ms Crisp said.
"Indents, or bends in the models will be an indication that they were attacked by a predator."
'Perfect bait for a feral cat'
Grassland monitoring officer Brett Howland said unlike the real thing, they hoped the fake earless dragons would be attacked — with cats, foxes, birds and snakes the most likely predators.
And to compare attack rates, they'll place different coloured models in the field.
"The prediction is that animals that have that kind of camouflage that looks like grass, that looks like bare ground, it will do quite well in that short grass, bare ground area," Mr Howland said.
"And the ones that don't have any camouflage will be mauled."
Threatened Species Commissioner Gregory Andrews said he believed cats were doing the most damage to populations of grassland earless dragons.
"This reptile is perfect bait for a feral cat, or a roaming domestic cat. This is exactly the sort of thing that cats love to eat, and devour instantly," Mr Andrews said.
Curiously, the science shows that earless dragons do better in a modified grazed landscape, rather than in untouched bushland — perhaps because the animals have adapted to regular clearing of their natural habitats through grazing and fire.
"Allowing sheep grazing actually supports them," Mr Andrews said.
"It's an example of a species that the recovery requires farming and grazing. The science has shown quite clearly that no grazing is actually worse for this species than some grazing."