Terrestrial vertebrate toxicology in Australia: An overview of wildlife research

Abstract

Terrestrial vertebrate wildlife toxicology in Australia makes up a small proportion of the national body of ecotoxicology research. It is resource intensive to study larger, long-lived, free-ranging animals, and research funding is highly competitive. Australia's landscapes and fauna are unique, which exacerbates the general lack of baseline data for chemical risk assessment. Although environmental protection regulation has reduced the incidence of acute poisoning of wildlife, there is still much to be learned about the effects of anthropogenic chemicals in Australian wildlife. This review outlines several examples of long-term research collaborations that have investigated Australian terrestrial wildlife toxicology issues, including industrial fluoride toxicosis, cyanide toxicosis at gold mines and nontarget impacts of chemical locust control, and outlines some of the challenges in the field. Australia's economic reliance on resource extraction and processing and agriculture accounts for most wildlife toxicology scenarios outlined in this review.