Tom Parkin, CC BY-NDHidden among the red sandstone escarpments of Mutawintji National Park in western New South Wales lives a rare lizard, long isolated in this arid landscape. Known to Wiimpatja Aboriginal Owners as kungaka – “the hidden one” – we have now scientifically described it as a new species: Liopholis mutawintji. For decades, this little lizard was thought to be an isolated population of a widespread skink.

However, through a research collaboration between Wiimpatja and scientists we have confirmed it as a distinct species found nowhere else on Earth. We have been monitoring them for 25 years. We believe there may be only be up to 20 individual kungaka remaining.

It may be one of Australia’s rarest reptiles. A kungaka peeks out from underneath a rock. Tom Parkin, CC BY-ND How we identified this new species The kungaka was previously thought to be a highly isolated population of White’s skink (Liopholis whitii), a widespread species that lives in rocky habitats across south-eastern Australia.

But through analysing its genetics, and variations in body shape, we confirmed this skink is actually three distinct species. Two of these, the southern White’s skink (Liopholis whitii) and northern White’s skink (Liopholis compressicauda) occur across large areas of south-east Australia. The third – the kungaka – is restricted to Mutawintji National Park, about 500km from its closest relatives.

The kungaka represents an ancient lineage that likely originated during earlier, wetter periods in Australia’s history. As the continent dried, this skink persisted in humid rocky refuges. Today, it survives in a tiny, isolated pocket of sheltered gorge in Mutawintji, surrounded by a hot and dry expanse of saltbush and stony plains.

Wiimpatja have worked alongside ecologists and the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service to monitor the kungaka population since 2000, with surveys intensifying since 2019. Over that time, the outlook has become increasingly concerning. Fewer than 20 individuals have been counted since surveys in 2024, using pattern recognition methods from photographs.

And there has been a decline in its range, the number of skinks observed and the habitat where it lives. Goats, cats and foxes One of the most significant threats to the kungaka is feral goats. These occur in large numbers in the region and damage the environment by overgrazing vegetation and trampling fragile rocky areas.

This damages the rocks kungaka rely on for shelter, and exposes them to predators and extreme temperatures. Goats are also a significant threat to Mutawintji’s endangered Wangarru, or yellow-footed rock-wallaby, as they compete for the same food and shelter. However, conservation work for Wangarru has been a major success story, with the population growing over the past decade.

Other threats are compounding the problem for the kungaka. Introduced predators such as cats and foxes may prey on them, while climate change is intensifying heat and drought across the region. The 2017–19 drought was the hottest and driest on record for far western NSW.

For a species with such a small population, these pressures may be overwhelming. A feral goat in Mutawintji National Park. They overgraze vegetation and trample fragile rocky areas.

Tom Parkin, CC BY-ND Kungaka as family From Warlpa Thompson: For Wiimpatja, the kungaka is inseparable from people, country and culture. Every animal and every plant have people attached to them. There would have been people whose meat, their blood, their family is the kungaka.

And these people are now gone. But the lizards aren’t. In some places the animal is gone out of the landscape, but the people are still there.

Like the bilby mob that live in Wilcannia, or the dingo mob from Mutawintji. With the kungaka, we’ve got the reverse. The people are gone but the lizards are still here.

Our old people had to fight for the right to get their country back. Now we’ve got it, we’re looking at how do we bring things back. How do we bring culture back?

How do we bring our animals back? The Wangurru, or yellow-footed rock wallaby, in Mutawintji National Park. Conservation work for Wangarru has been a success story, with the population growing over the past decade.

Tom Parkin, CC BY-ND The numbers of Wangurru have boomed in the last ten years. Hopefully we can do the same with the kungaka. A big part of that is making sure that our young people are involved so they know what it means to look after country, and the plants and animals from our country.

It’s important our kids don’t just get the cultural knowledge from us, but they get the scientific knowledge and understanding, so they know everything that it is to talk for that animal, not just balanced with one side or the other. A group on the lookout for kungaka. Front: Keanu Garni Bates (left) and Ray Hunte-Mckeller.

Back: Gerry Swan (left) and Lyndy Marshall. Tom Parkin, CC BY-ND The future of the kungaka There is a shared responsi