Kangaroo Island Echidna

There appear to be no major threats to the species over most of its range. It is threatened by overhunting for food in parts of New Guinea, and there may be some localized declines. Although not a threat, they are used for ceremonial purposes throughout their range.

This species is found in two protected areas on New Guinea and presumably is present in many protected areas in Australia. There is a need to monitor numbers of animals killed along selected sections of main tourist roads. Most probably there are adequate protected areas in Australia already in place for this species, however, in Papua New Guinea (where less than 2% of the land is protected) none of the protected areas are large enough (other than Crater Mountain Wildlife Reserve) to contain a viable population of this species (L. Salas pers. comm.).