Hundreds of new leadbeater’s possum colonies identified

HUNDREDS of new leadbeater’s possum colonies were identified after the Victorian animal received a critically endangered listing, new documents reveal.

The leadbeater's possum’s status is currently under review.

HUNDREDS of new leadbeater’s possum colonies were identified after the Victorian animal received a critically endangered listing, new documents reveal.

The status of the mammal, found only in Victoria’s Central Highlands, is currently under review amid concerns environmental measures for its protections could end the state’s timber industry.

The Herald Sun has obtained a chain of letters between federal Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg, Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce and the Threatened Species Commission regarding the marsupial’s listing.

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The tiny possum can only be found in Victoria and is the state’s faunal emblem.

It shows Mr Frydenberg agreed to a review following data from the Victorian Government that 537 new colonies had been found north of Melbourne between 2014 and 2017.

Former Enviroment Minister Greg Hunt elevated the possum’s projection levels to critically endangered in April 2015.

leadbeater’s possum colonies can be made up of anywhere between three and 12 individuals.

Based on a estimates that each colony has only three individuals, the 680 known leadbeater’s possum colonies represent an estimated known leadbeater’s possums population of 2040.

But other estimates have put the animal’s numbers between 3500 and 10,000.

The timber industry claims excess protections around the possum’s habitat — much of which was lost in the 2009 bushfires — have cost the state’s timber industry more than $20 million in revenues and 3000ha of commercial forestry over 10 years.

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, then Agriculture Minister, wrote to Mr Frydenberg in September last year requesting newly collected data from VicForests be used to review the possum’s status.

The letters show Mr Frydenberg put on hold a plan to help the possum’s recovery until a review into its status was completed.

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POSSUM’S ENDANGERED STATUS UNDER REVIEW

The Herald Sun understands the Threatened Species Scientific Committee considered the listing assessment at their November 2017 meeting, and sought an extension from an initial due date of March to September 30.

The committee said it would allow it time to consult more widely on the proposed listing assessment, and carefully examine all new data, and the methods used to collect it, to develop an overall view of the possum’s current status.