5 Endangered Plants & Animals at North Head Sanctuary

ESBS is a diverse community of plants that include grass trees, banksias, coastal tea trees and grevilleas – to name but a few. 

In turn, these plants provide a home for local animals including echidnas, long-nosed bandicoots, eastern water dragons, New Holland honeyeaters and yellow-tailed black cockatoos.

ESBS occurs only in the Sydney Basin bioregion and, in 2017, it was declared a ‘critically endangered ecological community’ due to its historic land clearing, weeds, erosion, rabbits and climate change. 

A third of all remaining ESBS – can be found at North Head. Fortunately, this patch remains in relatively good health thanks to bush regenerators and fauna ecologists. The NHSF helps the Harbour Trust plant degraded areas with local plants grown in their nursery.

Long-nosed bandicoots were once common throughout Sydney; however, a genetically distinct colony at North Head has been classified as endangered. This population (around 150 individuals) is at risk due to habitat loss, fragmentation and predation by foxes, dogs and cats.

The Harbour Trust collaborates with NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and North Head Sanctuary Foundation to restore the bandicoot population to healthy level.

Joint efforts include education about long-nosed bandicoots, catch and release trappings (to monitor the size and health of the local population) and steps to address local threats – for example, feral animal monitoring and signage to alert drivers to their presence.

Wattles are part of a group of plants called legumes, which convert atmospheric nitrogen into a soluble form through bacteria attached to their roots. The soluble nitrogen is fixed in the soil and made available for other plants to thrive.

The sunshine wattle stands at a modest height of approximately 1.5 metres. The plant’s branches are decorated with small, elongated leaves that give off a vibrant green hue. During the autumn season the plant bursts into bloom with clusters of creamy yellow flowers.

While the sunshine wattle plays a crucial role in North Head Sanctuary’s ecosystem, it faces significant threats to its survival. These include habitat loss stemming from urbanisation and land clearance as well as competition from invasive weed species. 

The Harbour Trust has received funding through the NSW Saving Our Species grant program to monitor sunshine wattle at North Head Sanctuary and ensure it thrives through a regime of targeted weeding and ecological burns. 

Eastern pygmy possums are pollinators and thus play a critical role in protecting North Head Sanctuary’s critically endangered ESBS. They are one of the smallest possums in existence, weighing up to only 43 grams when fully grown (less than a golf ball).

Measuring around 7 to 11 centimetres in length, they are covered in dense fur (usually greyish-brown on their backs and whitish-grey on their bellies), which helps them camouflage. Large, round eyes aid them in their nocturnal activities, as they are primarily active at night.

Unfortunately, eastern pygmy possums are at risk from introduced predators, such as cats and foxes, as well as loss of habitat from land clearing and inappropriate fire regimes.  

To combat these threats, the Harbour Trust regularly monitors for introduced predators at North Head Sanctuary. Owing to this vigilance, the number of new individuals of possums encountered during annual studies has steadily increased. 

The leaves are glossy green and lance-shaped but produce creamy white flowers in spring. Camfield's stringybark faces various threats, including habitat loss, land clearing and inappropriate fire regimes.

Conservation efforts are essential to protect this species and its habitat, as it plays a crucial role in the ecosystem, providing food and shelter for native wildlife and contributing to the overall biodiversity of the region.