SPECIES: Gymnobelideus leadbeateri — Leadbeater's Possum
CLASSIFICATION: Critically endangered
Leadbeater’s Possum doesn’t so much move through the Central Highlands as spark through it - a streak of grey, a flash of tail and then nothing but rustling leaves. Hidden in the high canopy and curled into tree hollows by day, this species has always been a mystery, but now the silence feels heavier. The great mountain ash forests it depends on have thinned, their old giants falling faster than new hollows can form, leaving this quicksilver possum with fewer safe places to hide.
Its survival now rests on protecting what hollow-bearing trees remain, easing pressure from logging and giving fire-affected forests the decades they need to recover. Predator control and habitat restoration are also critical.
Photo: Dan Harley