Updated 13 September 2012, 9:52 AEST
One of Australia’s rarest mammals heading for extinction
Expert on endangered Victorian possum quits (Credit: ABC)
One of Australia’s rarest mammals is being “locked in to extinction” by the Government body charged with saving it, that’s the view of Australia’s leading expert on the Leadbeater’s Possum,Victoria’s faunal emblem.
Professor David Lindenmayer from the Australian National University has studied the possum for 30 years but has tendered his resignation from the Victorian Government’s Leadbeater’s recovery team in protest over what he describes as an “environmentaly bankrupt administration” “unable to appropriately protect” the animal.
It’s believed less than 2,000 Leadbeater’s possums remain in the wild.
It’s precarious predicament worsened following the 2009 Black Saturday fires, which destroyed more than 70,000 hectares of ash forest, about half the possum’s habitat.
Tracee Hutchison spoke to Professor David Lindenmayer.
Presenter: Tracee Hutchison
Speaker: Professor David Lindenmayer