Wildlife of Christmas Island

[1] Most of the rainforest remains intact and supports a large range of endemic species of animals and plants.

The dominant trees are Planchonella duclitan, Syzygium nervosum, Tristiropsis acutangula, Inocarpus fagifer and Hernandia ovigera.

Mid-storey species include two endemic trees, the Christmas Island palm, Arenga listeri and the screw pine Pandanus elatus.

These include the endemic Pandanus christmatensis and Abutilon listeri, as well as certain shrubs and trees whose buoyant seeds are dispersed across the sea such as Scaevola taccada, Cordia subcordata, Morinda citrifolia, Hibiscus tiliaceus and Guettarda speciosa.

[9] The Christmas Island flying fox (Pteropus melanotus natalis), the only other endemic mammal, is declining in numbers and is considered threatened.

In the late twentieth century there were estimated to be about 120 million red crabs on the island, and the mass migration made by the mature individuals to the coast was spectacular.

[10] The red crabs are a keystone species, feeding on the forest floor on leaves, fallen fruits, flowers, seedlings and carrion and maintaining a lawn-like turf.

[10][11] The karst limestone areas are riddled with caves and sink-holes, some of the underground water-filled cavities being saline.

[7] Christmas Island is recognised by BirdLife International as being an Important Bird Area, mostly because of the breeding populations of seabirds.