Saving The Pink-Tailed Worm-Lizard

Summary

The Pink-tailed Worm-lizard Aprasia parapulchella (PTWL) is a secretive, burrowing reptile that looks more like a worm than a lizard. It lives under shallow rocks, sharing its shelter with ants and feeding only on their larvae and eggs. This extraordinary relationship makes the species both highly specialised and highly vulnerable.

Once more widespread, the PTWL has suffered major declines due to habitat loss, rock disturbance, predation by cats and foxes, and inappropriate fire regimes. The species now clings on in a handful of fragmented populations and is formally listed as threatened at both state and federal levels. Protecting the PTWL is about more than saving a single species — it is about protecting an entire web of unique ecological relationships that have evolved over millennia.

Project Strategy

The recovery program brings together science, Traditional Owner knowledge, and community action through a multi-pronged approach.

Stage one

• Genetic research to confirm the distinctiveness of populations.

• Innovative monitoring using eDNA and camera traps, reducing the need for destructive “rock-rolling” surveys.

• Large-scale surveys to understand distribution, abundance, and threats.

• Threat reduction through cat control, rock protection, fire management, and weed removal.

• Community engagement to involve landholders, volunteers, and citizen scientists in recovery efforts.

Stage two

• Finalise and implement a full Recovery Plan and Action Statement to guide conservation efforts.

• Continue genetic research to confirm distinctiveness of populations and refine conservation priorities.

• Undertake long-term monitoring of populations and trends using non-invasive methods.

• Survey unsampled habitats to search for additional populations.

• Research habitat requirements to improve restoration and management strategies.

• Model and restore habitat, including trials with artificial rocks where needed.

• Assess and monitor threats such as cats, fire, weeds, rock removal, and urban development.

• Strengthen predator control through cat curfews and fox management.

• Investigate fire management practices to protect habitat while reducing wildfire risk.

• Engage communities through signage, education programs, and citizen science.

• Explore land acquisition or stewardship agreements to secure key habitats.

• Plan for insurance populations including feasibility studies for captive breeding and translocation.