Logging Could Doom Tiny Australian Possum to Extinction, but One Zoo Offers Hope

Scientists and conservationists this week said they will petition the Australian government to change the status of the Leadbeater's possum from "endangered" to "critically endangered," a designation shared by only four other Australian mammals. The tiny marsupial ( Gymnobelideus leadbeateri ) is one of two faunal emblems of Australia's State of Victoria, but it has suffered badly since 2009. The species lost more than 40 percent of its habitat that year during the infamous Black Sunday bushfires , which swept through the state and killed or injured more than 600 people.The bushfires were another blow for the possums, which were thought to be extinct for 50 years before they were rediscovered in 1961. Even before the fires the animals could only be found in about 150 nonconsecutive square kilometers of habitat. Today fewer than 1,500 of the possums remain, and scientists are warning that numbers could soon drop further if immediate action is not taken. [More]