If you ’re going to becritically endangeredas a species , it helps to be cute . And these mountain pigmy possums are proving they are just too endearing to lose .
batch pigmy possum ( Burramys parvus)are Australia ’s only torpid pouched mammal . There are less than 2,000 leave in the wild , and with populations restricted to three widely tell districts in the Great Dividing Range inbreeding is a threat .
In 2003 , bushfires devastated a tumid part of their habitat not already destroyed by the expression of infrastructure for the region ’s downhill skiiing industry . Being an alpine specie , the great deal pygmy possum is particularly vulnerable to Global Warming . As the climate warms , many metal money will move to higher country or towards the pole , but for species occupy the tops of mountains there is literally nowhere to go .
But two things offer hope for the pygmy possum . Their pocket-size size means the facilities required to maintain a enwrapped breeding program can also be manageably small , and they are so gorgeous lots of masses want to assist . Since 2007 , Zoos Victoria have been running a Recovery Program with a breeding universe of around 50 possum , and have succeed in grow at least one litter every yr since 2009 . The photo above is of this year ’s photogenic bunch , who can be viewed atHealesville Sanctuary .
Some years ago , University of Melbourne researcher play marriage broker , take a bunch of males from Mount Hotham to Mount Bullerto assert inherited variant . The try , which bring about at least eight babe in the first year , was the first attempt at such a technique for divided population of an endangered mintage in Australia .
This 2012 Zoos Victoria TV explicate the threats in more detail . That is , if you could contract over all the paradigm of baby possums being adorable .
And if that is n’t enough for you , you’re able to adopt one for $ 15 a calendar month and stay update on all their doings .
Believe it or not , heap pygmy opossum are the big of the five species of pygmy possum , so there are four even smaller relatives out there , none of which are endangered .
