A new survey has highlighted the “growing disconnect” between Australians and their native wildlife.

While kangaroos and wombats are well-known Aussie animals, other native fauna appears more easily forgotten.

For example, almost one in three people in Queensland, NSW and Victoria did not know that quolls are native Australian animals.

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“There is something deeply concerning about almost every Australian polled knowing a kangaroo belongs here, while around one in three people surveyed across the east coast did not recognise a quoll as native,” Invasive Species Council rewilding manager Rob Brewster said.

“Unfortunately that’s because our four species of quolls, like many of our other iconic species found nowhere else on earth, are becoming increasingly sparse in our landscapes due to threats like invasive species driving populations to critically low numbers or even extinction.

”The less Australians encounter an animal, whether that be a quoll, bandicoot or bettong, the quicker they fade from public knowledge and eventually generations will not recognise them all — unless we do something about it.”

Quolls were once widespread in southeast Australia but farming and feral animals have taken a toll. Credit: Aussie Ark via AAP

The council said the fact that one in six of the 5000 people surveyed by DemosAU thought foxes were native “should alarm all of us”, while, overall, the findings reveal a “growing disconnect” between Australians and native wildlife erased by invasive threats and habitat destruction.

“That is how extinction can begin long before the last animal dies,” Brewster said.

“A species disappears from your backyard, then your neighbourhood, then your region. A generation grows up without seeing it, and eventually its absence starts to feel normal.

“Australia already has one of the worst animal extinction records on earth.

“We should not accept an Australia where introduced animals become more familiar while the native animals that belong here fade from our landscapes and our memory.”

The council said the Labor Government’s commitment to no new extinctions must be backed by investment.