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Aussie researchers mount rescue bid for endangered pygmy possum
SYDNEY, Nov 4, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Climate change is threatening to wipe out
Australia’s critically endangered mountain pygmy possum, but researchers are
hoping to save the hibernating species by relocating the last remaining
mammals to cooler lowlands.
The tiny mammal lives in alpine regions but less than 2,500 remain in the
wild, according to estimates, with winter snowfall declines and warmer
weather threatening extinction.
The possums hibernate deep inside humid rock piles that are insulated by
snow during winter and provide shelter from high summer temperatures that can
prove fatal.
The species — Australia’s only hibernating marsupial — needs
temperatures to hover just above freezing to hibernate successfully, but
without enough snow the cold air outside penetrates the rocks and chills the
atmosphere inside, University of New South Wales (UNSW) associate lecturer
Hayley Bates said Monday.
“Anything less than 0.6 Celsius will wake them from their hibernation and
they can shiver and starve to death,” she added.
“You just need two bad winters like this and the species could collapse.”
Scientists at UNSW have started a breeding program in a lowland area of
New South Wales state in an attempt to acclimatise the possums to a new home,
with hopes of establishing an inital colony of 25 animals.
More of the marsupials could be moved from their alpine habitat if the
project is successful.
Based on analysis of ancient fossils dating back 25 million years, they
believe the mountain pygmy possum’s ancestors lived in a more temperate and
less extreme environment than it endures today.
Research also showed that other closely related possums had long lived in
settings such as lowland rainforests, said UNSW palaeontologist Mike Archer.
“What probably happened is that the modern species followed cool
rainforest which invaded the alpine areas during a period of relatively
warmer, lush conditions,” he added.
“After these conditions deteriorated with further climate change, they
were stranded in an environment that was at the extreme end of their
adaptability.” The mountain pygmy possum is also under pressure as numbers
of its primary post-hibernation food source — the bogong moth — are
dwindling, apparently also due to climate change and drought.
If the project is successful, scientists hope other endangered Australian
animals could be rescued in a similar way, including the Corroboree frog and
the swamp tortoise.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1424 hrs