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Sydney Harbour and its environs provide a range of habitats for native mammals with over 40 species recorded in the last 200 years. The composition of the fauna has changed markedly during this period with a decline in the number of native species and an increase in the number of introduced ones. Platypus and Echidna (both monotremes) have vanished from the harbour area and the diversity of marsupials, bats and native rodents has diminished. This is largely a result of the combined impacts of habitat loss and predation by, or competition with, introduced species such as cats, dogs, foxes and rabbits.
Despite the historic reduction in mammal diversity, Sydney Harbour is still home to a variety of fascinating mammals, some of which have adapted well to the urban environment and others which require conservation action to ensure their continued survival.
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