Using artificial intelligence, the elusive and critically endangered Australian endemic Plains-wanderer has been rediscovered roaming in Melbourne’s west for the first time in more than 30 years.
Zoos Victoria has deployed 35 audio recorders, known as ‘song meters’, in Victoria’s Volcanic Plains. Using a set of AI call recognisers designed by Museums Victoria Research Institute and Queensland University of Technology, the song meters are identifying the species’ unique calls where it was once abundant but not been recorded since 1989.
Tens of thousands of hours of acoustic monitoring, recorded by Zoos Victoria’s conservationists, have detected Plains-wanderer calls from one private and one public-owned site. Further monitoring will continue until the end of 2026.
Plains-wanderers are commonly said to be the ‘Goldilocks’ of the animal kingdom as they require very specific habitat conditions to thrive and survive. They are genetically distinct from any other species on the planet and have their own evolutionary line, ranked number one on the Zoological Society of London’s Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered bird list.
Once widespread throughout the grasslands of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, it’s now estimated there are fewer than 1000 Plains-wanderers remaining in the wild, primarily in two remaining strongholds in Victoria’s Northern Plains and the New South Wales Riverina.
Zoos Victoria Threatened Species Program Coordinator, Chris Hartnett said the rediscovery in Melbourne’s west provides significant opportunities to protect precious Plains-wanderer grassland habitat, of which less than just 1 per cent remains in Victoria, and supports future efforts to reestablish a self-sustaining wild population.
“This is a monumental discovery that provides great hope for the future of this special species. We’re excited to work with landowners and managers across Victoria’s Volcanic Plains to protect this precious bird and its native grassland habitat,“ Mr Hartnett said.
The rediscovery is a major milestone in national recovery efforts to save the Plains-wanderer from extinction. In a multi-state crossagency team effort, conservation organisations have established a thriving population of Plains-wanderers in a national zoo breeding program, which includes Victoria’s Werribee Open Range Zoo. The program aims to replenish wild populations through wild releases of the precious species.
