Possum Magic on the Mountain: Saving Mt Buller's Mountain Pygmy-possum

In a major conservation win for the species, a male Mountain Pygmy-possum has been born in the wild - the first with parents from each of the genetically distinct Mt Buller and Mt Hotham populations.

In October 2010, a team from DSE, University of Melbourne, Healesville Sanctuary temporarily re-located 6 Mt Hotham males into the territory of females at Mt Buller during the breeding season.

The relocation efforts were part of a recovery plan for the Mountain Pygmy-possums, to combat their drastic decline in numbers and further in-breeding among the remaining population.

The birth of 'Lil Lou', the product of the assisted love match between Mt Hotham male 'White Stone' and a female Mt Buller possum was discovered on a recent trapping visit to the Alpine region.

Mountain Pygmy-possums, one of Australia's rarest marsupials and listed as 'Threatened - critically endangered' Victoria on the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act, have one breeding season per year and can have up to four young at a time.

Visit www.dse.vic.gov.au/threatenedspecies for more on Threatened Species in Victoria.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• mountain pygmy possum
• mountain pygmy-possum
• possum
• mt buller
• mount buller
• buller
• burramys
• parvus
• burramys parvus
• translocation

[ladygrey21]

Good job. If you need any help bringing up young ones I have a quarter acre just west of Orlando FL that could always use a ovulation boost. An old man who collected exotic venomous spiders died and his conservators thought it would be "funny if they opened his doorrs on his house and all of the screen tops on the spider aquariums. Now all over our many treed and ponder neighborhood are Australian crab or huntsman spiders among other wonders; eating our wildlife and causing mayhem. Any time you

[thepowerofgrayskull]

Nice work, White Stone!!