Have you ever heard of a species considered extinct for over 50 years miraculously reappearing? After around half a century missing, most would consider this impossible, especially for a palm-sized species like the Victorian grassland earless dragon. That is, everyone but the zoo-based conservation organization Zoos Victoria.
Beginning its active search efforts for the dragon in 2017, Zoos Victoria announced earlier this year that they had rediscovered the species in an undisclosed location in Australia’s Victoria state. In light of such a momentous discovery, the organization has enlisted the help of the de-extinction expert Colossal Biosciences to ensure the species’ continued survival.
Cofounded by tech entrepreneur Ben Lamm and world-renowned geneticist George Church, Colossal Biosciences is best known for its innovative use of genomic sequencing technology to revive extinct species like the woolly mammoth, dodo, and Tasmanian tiger. The company plans on leveraging its over $225 million conservation toolkit to aid in rejuvenating the Victorian grassland earless dragon’s population, which is now considered Australia’s most critically endangered reptile.
“We’re starting to leverage some of the cutting-edge technologies that Colossal has built toward a partnership with zoos and governments in order to protect endangered species,” said Matt James, Colossal’s chief animal officer, in a press release about the partnership.
The Victorian Grassland Earless Dragon’s Hidden History
The Victorian grassland earless dragon has spent most of its history in secret. The small species was discovered near Melbourne in the 1940s and was assumed extinct less than 30 years later after its last confirmed sighting in 1969 near the city of Geelong.
Endemic to Australia’s basalt plains grasslands ecosystem, which has declined by more than 97% since the pre-European era, the grassland earless dragon’s population has been decimated by a mix of farming, urbanization, changes in local fire patterns, and the introduction of predator species like feral cats and foxes.
With sporadic sightings into the 1990s, conservation enthusiasts and organizations hoped that the species was perhaps alive, but incredibly elusive due to low population numbers and a tendency to go into torpor — a state similar to hibernation — during the winter.
Despite having no confirmed sightings in decades, many continued to go through painstaking efforts to locate the tiny reptile. Zoos Victoria even went so far as to conduct a summer survey of the species’ potential and historical habitats throughout western Victoria from 2014 to 2016. After two years and over 2 million photos, this survey resulted in no new sightings of the dragon.
Flash-forward to February 2023 when two novice ecologists sent Victoria’s premier reptile expert a photo of a lizard they believed to be a Victorian grassland earless dragon. After morphologically comparing the image to specimens held by Museums Victoria, the species was confirmed to be a Victorian grassland earless dragon, and the government invested in a $188,000 plan to sniff out the species using detection dogs.
“We have got people that have spent 30 years looking for this species and I think for the collective team that are involved it’s probably the pinnacle of our conservation careers,” said Zoos Victoria general manager of threatened species Gary Peterson to The Sydney Morning Herald.
Following a four-month collection period at an undisclosed grassland, 16 lizards have been gathered to participate in a breeding program run by Zoos Victoria.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported Zoos Victoria CEO Jenny Gray saying, “Dragons are a big deal, and to have such an endangered dragon in our population is just something that makes us incredibly excited.
“This is probably the most endangered reptile in the world, with only 16 verified individuals in safe care, so to be able to work with an animal like this is both an incredible challenge and incredible opportunity.”
With a viable conservation program requiring at least six separate self-sustaining populations, 600 hectares (approximately 24.7 acres) of grassland, and at least $56 million in funding over 10 years, Zoos Victoria has enlisted the help of numerous organizations, from Colossal Biosciences to the Australian Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, and Museums Victoria Research Institute, to name a few.
The Colossal Campaign for Repopulation
Who better to revitalize Victorian grassland earless dragon populations than the extinct and lost species experts at Colossal Biosciences? In addition to assisting the breeding program by funding the dragons’ interim care and housing, Colossal seeks to sequence the species’ genome to determine interrelatedness between individuals that can inform breeding strategies.
“We’re really excited about helping to establish the means to create an insurance and conservation breeding program for the once-feared-lost earless dragon,” said Colossal CEO Lamm.
Classified as a “boom and bust species,” the dragon doesn’t reach sexual maturity until 1 year old, half of the species’ two-year life span. This lifecycle offers no room for error, making informed breeding strategies incredibly important.
While there are currently no plans for Colossal to alter the dragon’s genome, genomic sequencing does allow for genes to be altered if they’re too closely related. Colossal is already conducting a similar process on the embryos of northern white rhinos, a species with historically low population numbers that’s now down to its last two individuals.
“Our partnership with Colossal has great potential to explore and apply more novel genetic techniques for a range of species in need,” said Gray in a press release. “It’s a great example of how different organizations can collaborate to address the urgent need for species preservation and ecosystem restoration.”
With Zoos Victoria invested in saving 27 different local Australian species, from the Tasmanian devil to the spotted tree frog and swift parrot, there’s no telling where this partnership with Colossal Biosciences may lead.
In an era where up to 24 species go extinct each day, stories like the Victorian grassland earless dragon’s rebound are incredibly important. As climate change continues to bring more and more lost and extinct species, it’s paramount to have companies like Colossal Biosciences that continue to develop and share innovative conservation strategies.
