The yellow crazy ant, also known as the long-legged ant or Maldive ant, is a species of ant, thought to be native to West Africa or Asia. They have been accidentally introduced to numerous places in the world's tropics.
The Christmas Island red crab is a species of land crab that is endemic to Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands in the Indian Ocean. Although restricted to a relatively small area, an estimated 43.7 million adult red crabs once lived on Christmas Island alone, but the accidental introduction of the yellow crazy ant is believed to have killed about 10–15 million of these in recent years. Christmas Island red crabs make an annual mass migration to the sea to lay their eggs in the ocean. Although its population is under great assault by the ants, as of 2020 the red crab had not been assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and it was not listed on their Red List. The crab's annual mass migration to the sea for spawning is described as an "epic" event. Millions emerge at the same time, halting road traffic and covering the ground in a thick carpet of crabs.
Norfolk Island National Park is a protected area of 6.50 km2 (2.51 sq mi) located at 29°2′0″S167°56′59″E in the South Pacific Ocean, about 1,471 kilometres off the East coast of Australia. The park’s area includes the Mount Pitt section on the namesake Norfolk Island with an area of 4.60 km2 (1.78 sq mi) / 460 ha, as well as the neighbouring Phillip Island encompassing 1.90 km2 (0.73 sq mi) / 190 ha, and the much smaller Nepean Island. The Norfolk Island group is a Commonwealth of Australia external territory, and is the only place in the world where the Norfolk Island parakeet and the white-chested white-eye occur.
The Christmas imperial pigeon or Christmas Island imperial pigeon, also known as Black imperial pigeon, Dusky imperial pigeon, Wharton's imperial pigeon, or burong pergam, is a large imperial pigeon endemic to Christmas Island in the northeastern Indian Ocean. It has an overall grey-blue colouration, and juveniles are duller than adults. It makes a soft purring coo sound and a deeper whoo sound comparable to a cow mooing. It lays one glossy white egg per brood, and is possibly somewhat colonial.
The Christmas boobook, also known as the Christmas hawk owl, Christmas Island boobook or Christmas Island hawk owl, is a species of owl in the family Strigidae.
The Christmas white-eye is a species of bird in the family Zosteropidae. It is endemic to Christmas Island. Its natural habitats are tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests and subtropical or tropical moist shrubland. It is threatened by habitat destruction.
The giant bronze gecko is a species of lizard in the family Gekkonidae endemic to Seychelles.
The Christmas Island shrew, also known as the Christmas Island musk-shrew is an extremely rare or possibly extinct shrew from Christmas Island. It was variously placed as subspecies of the Asian gray shrew or the Southeast Asian shrew, but morphological differences and the large distance between the species indicate that it is an entirely distinct species.
Cryptoblepharus egeriae, also known commonly as the blue-tailed shinning-skink, the Christmas Island blue-tailed shinning-skink, and the Christmas Island blue-tailed skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae that was once endemic to Christmas Island. The Christmas Island blue-tailed skink was discovered in 1888. It was formerly the most abundant reptile on the island, and occurred in high numbers particularly near the human settlement. However, the Christmas Island blue-tailed skink began to decline sharply outwardly from the human settlement by the early 1990s, which coincided with the introduction of a predatory snake and also followed the introduction of the yellow crazy ant in the mid-1980s. By 2006, the Christmas Island blue-tailed skink was on the endangered animals list, and by 2010 the Christmas Island blue-tailed skink was extinct in the wild. From 2009 to 2010, Parks Australia and Taronga Zoo started a captive breeding program, which has prevented total extinction of the species.
The Christmas Island forest skink, also known as the Christmas Island whiptail skink, is an extinct species of skink formerly endemic to Australia's Christmas Island. As of 2017, it is listed as extinct on the IUCN Red List. The last known forest skink, a captive individual named Gump, died on 31 May 2014.
The Seychelles frog is a species of frog endemic to Mahé, Silhouette and Praslin islands in the Seychelles. It inhabits the floor of damp rainforest at altitudes from 150 m (490 ft) to 991 m (3,251 ft) above sea level. Higher altitude sites are considered to be more climatically stable and more suitable. The species is present in Morne Seychellois National Park, Silhouette National Park and Praslin National Park.
The Gau iguana is a species of iguana endemic to Gau Island in the Fijian archipelago. It mostly lives in the well-preserved upland forests of the island, with smaller populations in the degraded coastal forests. It can be distinguished from other South Pacific iguanas by the male's distinctive color pattern and solid green throat. It is also the smallest of all South Pacific iguanas, being about 13% smaller than the third smallest species and 40% smaller than the largest extant species.
The wildlife of Christmas Island is composed of the flora and fauna of this isolated island in the tropical Indian Ocean. Christmas Island is the summit plateau of an underwater volcano. It is mostly clad in tropical rainforest and has karst, cliffs, wetlands, coasts and sea. It is a small island with a land area of 135 km2 (52 sq mi), 63% of which has been declared a National park. Most of the rainforest remains intact and supports a large range of endemic species of animals and plants.
