Project Description and Needs Statement
Mountain Pygmy-possums are endemic to Australia, and are this country’s only hibernating alpine marsupial.
Living only above the retreating snowline of the Snowy Mountains in southern New South Wales and the High Country of north-eastern Victoria, this species is in real danger of becoming extinct due to decreased habitat, isolated subpopulations, declining population numbers and predation from feral cats and foxes.
But we can help.
This tiny marsupial was first found as a 10,000 year old fossil. Mountain Pygmy-possums were thought to be extinct until a live one was discovered near a Mt Hotham ski lodge in 1966.
So rarely do we get a second chance to preserve a species declared extinct. We do not want to see Mountain Pygmy-possums disappear from the earth under our watch.
The Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife has been funding projects to secure the future of the Mountain Pygmy-possum since 1978. Conservation efforts to date have involved habitat protection, and fox and feral cat control, and will continue into the future.
But Mountain Pygmy-possum numbers are still in decline and have reached the point where the loss of a single possum could affect the survival of the entire subpopulation.
Today, we are asking for your help to fund a captive breeding program to bolster numbers of Mountain-Pygmy possums. These possums will be introduced into wild populations, and the possibility of adapting Mountain Pygmy-possums to safer habitats will also be explored.
The captive breeding program has the guidance and support of key researchers in Australian biodiversity, including Professor Mike Archer AM of the University of New South Wales and Dr Linda Broome of the NSW Department of Environment, Climate Change & Water (OEH).
OEH is working closely UNSW as well as research and conservation institutions including the University of Sydney, University of New England and the Australian Ecosystems Foundation to develop a captive breeding protocol, secure breeding facilities and implement a research program.
The captive breeding program is the last chance Australia has to save this unique piece of our nation’s biodiversity from disappearing forever.
Project Detail - Goals and Objectives
The goals of the Mountain Pygmy-possum captive breeding program are as follows:
- To breed Mountain Pygmy-possums in captivity in order to increase population numbers.
- To increase the genetic diversity of the species, which has become limited due to the four remaining wild populations of Mountain Pygmy-possums being geographically isolated from each other.
- To provide an insurance population for introduction into the current habitat range in case of further wild population declines.
- To provide stock for experimental introductions to currently unoccupied habitat in the Kosciuszko National Park.
- To assess the ability of the Mountain Pygmy-possum to breed and maintain populations in a warmer climate than their current natural habitat.
- To conduct experimental releases into areas of habitat less vulnerable to climate change, such as lowland rainforest and wet forest.
The objectives of the Mountain Pygmy-possum captive breeding program are as follows:
- To save a species found nowhere else in the world from extinction.
- To bolster declining population numbers of this species in the wild.
- To increase population numbers of this species.
- To preserve an important piece of Australia’s biodiversity so that ecosystems remain in balance. If Mountain Pygmy-possums disappear, fluctuations in the numbers of species they predate are likely, and unforeseen consequences could flow on to other species and areas of habitat.
- To investigate the chance of adapting this species to less vulnerable habitats.
All funds donated to this project will go directly to the captive breeding program, and will ensure its goals and objectives are achieved.
