The Grassland Dragon at Risk Once Again

Iran’s Endemic Reptiles Face the Heat

_{Edited by Rick van Mechelen, from Critically endangered Victorian grassland earless lizard habitat threatened by land sale limbo}

Two years ago, a species thought extinct for over 50 years was found alive on a sheep farm west of Melbourne. The Victorian grassland earless dragon (Tympanocryptis pinguicolla) had quietly persisted in a patch of native grassland, overlooked but not lost.

Its rediscovery made headlines. But today, that same species is once again at risk, not from habitat loss or predators, but from bureaucratic delay.

A Rare Survivor

The dragon’s only known wild population lives on private farmland. Its habitat is a remnant of native grasslands, of which 98% have been lost since European settlement, maintained not through deliberate conservation, but through decades of low-intensity sheep grazing.

Those practices may have saved the dragon. And the family who owns the land, whose identity remains confidential to protect the species, wants to ensure its future by selling the habitat to the Victorian government for protection.

But the government isn’t buying.

An Outdated Plan

In 2010, the Victorian government committed to purchasing 15,000 hectares of endangered grassland to offset suburban development under the Melbourne Strategic Assessment (MSA). To date, less than 4,000 hectares have been acquired. The rediscovery site falls outside the designated zone, and the plan hasn’t been updated to reflect the new reality.

Despite being the only confirmed wild site, the dragon’s habitat isn’t protected. And no funding has been offered to secure it.

“There’s zero incentive for farmers to protect native pastures,” a family spokesperson said.

A Simple Ask

The Biodiversity Council, a group of academic ecologists from across Australia, recently released a report recommending urgent action: secure the site, survey potential habitats, and establish at least a dozen new wild populations.

Captive breeding is already underway. Melbourne Zoo hatched dragon offspring at the end of 2023, and detection dogs have been trained to search for others in the wild. But there’s no protected habitat to release them into, without which recovery can’t move forward.

As Professor Brendan Wintle puts it, “Losing the species once was tragic. Losing it twice would be negligent.”

Shared Responsibility

The rediscovery of T. pinguicolla is one of conversation’s rare moments of good news. But without long-term protection for its habitat, this moment risks ending too soon.

The farming family has done what they can. They've protected the land at personal cost, waiting for government support that hasn’t come.

“If you want farmers to maintain Australia’s landscapes,” they said, “there has to be a better way.”

Conservation doesn’t happen only in national parks. In this case, it’s happening on a working farm, through quiet persistence and care. But that care needs to be matched with commitment from the institutions that have the power to act.

The Victorian grassland earless dragon isn’t just a scientific curiosity. It’s a test of whether rediscovery is enough, and whether governments will back good intentions with action.