One of Victoria’s most shy and vulnerable marsupial species has been discovered living near Daylesford.
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The shy, tree climbing marsupial with a black bushy tail lives in tree hollows. The species forages at night on spiders, beetles and other insects which live on rough barked eucalyptus trees, fallen logs and amongst leaf litter on the forest floor.
It is listed in Victoria as ‘vulnerable’ due to the threat posed by cats, foxes and the impact of illegally harvested firewood.
Three male and two female mature brush-tailed phascogales were spotted during the annual monitoring program in Hepburn Regional Park and Wombat State Forest.
The program revealed a slight decline in phascogales compared to last year, when numbers were elevated because of good rainfall, an abundance of food and the stage of their natural lifecycles.
It has, however, revealed the population around Daylesford has shown no decline in its genetic diversity in spite of the species being highly fragmented statewide.
Local residents can help these adorable neighbours by keeping pets indoors at night and by protecting mature rough-barked trees on your property – especially those with hollows.
- Kyra Winduss
The monitoring program is a joint partnership between Parks Victoria, the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning and students of conservation and land management at Federation University TAFE.
Ranger Team Leader at Parks Victoria, Kyra Winduss, said she had been delighted while watching the healthy animals.
“Local residents can help these adorable neighbours by keeping pets indoors at night and by protecting mature rough-barked trees on your property – especially those with hollows.
“At a time when the phascogale’s habitat is highly fragmented and predation is a threat, it’s even more important to have these monitoring programs to guide the management of our unique parks and forests,” she said.
Teacher at Federation University, David Coutts, said his students benefit from the opportunity to participate in the long term program.
“Working closely with staff from Parks Victoria and DELWP, students gain wonderful fieldwork experience and an opportunity to get up close to Brush-tailed phascogales. Assisting with monitoring Brush-tailed phascogales is one of the highlights of the year the students,” he said.