View source for Leadbeater's possum

{{Short description|Species of marsupial}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{EngvarB|date=April 2020}}
{{Speciesbox
| name              = Leadbeater's possum<ref name=msw3>{{MSW3 Diprotodontia | id = 11000150 | page = 54}}</ref>
| image             = Leadbeater's_Possum_02_Pengo.jpg
| image_caption     = Taxidermy specimen
| status            = CR
| status_system     = IUCN3.1
| status_ref        = <ref name=iucn>{{cite iucn|access-date=26 April 2023|author1=Woinarski, J.|author2=Burbidge, A.A.|doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T9564A21959976.en|article-number=e.T9564A21959976|title=''Gymnobelideus leadbeateri''|volume=2016|year=2016}}</ref>
| genus             = Gymnobelideus
| parent_authority  = [[Frederick McCoy|McCoy]], 1867
| species           = leadbeateri
| authority         = [[Frederick McCoy|McCoy]], 1867
| range_map         = Leadbeater's Possum area.png
| range_map_caption = Leadbeater's possum range
}}

'''Leadbeater's possum''' ('''''Gymnobelideus leadbeateri''''') is a critically endangered [[Phalangeriformes|possum]] largely restricted to small pockets of [[Eucalyptus delegatensis|alpine ash]], [[Eucalyptus regnans|mountain ash]], and [[Eucalyptus pauciflora|snow gum]] forests in the [[Central Highlands (Victoria)|Central Highlands]] of [[Victoria, Australia|Victoria]],<ref>{{Cite web|date=31 March 2020|title=Regional Forest Agreement CENTRAL HIGHLANDS - Updated Map|url=https://www.agriculture.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/central_highlands_land_tenure_and_zoning_map_december_2019.pdf|website=Regional Forest Agreement|access-date=3 June 2020|archive-date=3 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200603111033/https://www.agriculture.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/central_highlands_land_tenure_and_zoning_map_december_2019.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Australia, north-east of Melbourne.<ref name="Macfarlane MA, Smith J, Lowe K 1998"/> In June 2025 it was reported that an image of a sole possum was recorded on a camera trap in October 2024 near [[Yarrangobilly Caves]], Southern NSW, within the [[Kosciuszko National Park]].<ref>{{Cite web |first=Caitlin |last=Fitzsimmons |first2=Bianca |last2=Hall |date=2025-05-31 |title=There were no known sightings of this critically endangered animal outside Victoria. Now it’s in NSW |url=https://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/there-were-no-known-sightings-of-this-critically-endangered-animal-outside-victoria-now-it-s-in-nsw-20250530-p5m3kb.html |access-date=2025-10-18 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}}</ref> It is [[Primitive (phylogenetics)|primitive]], [[Relict (biology)|relict]], and non-gliding, and, as the only species in the [[Petauridae|petaurid]] genus ''Gymnobelideus'', represents an ancestral form. Formerly, Leadbeater's possums were moderately common within the very small areas they inhabited; their requirement for year-round food supplies and tree-holes to take refuge in during the day restricts them to mixed-age wet [[sclerophyll]] forest with a dense mid-story of ''[[Acacia]]''. The species was named in 1867 after John Leadbeater, the then taxidermist at the [[Museum Victoria]].<ref>{{cite book | last = Hackett | first = Des | author-link=Des Hackett | title = Leadbeater's Possum: Bred To Be Wild | editor = Peter Preuss | year = 2006 | publisher=Trafford Publishing | isbn = 1-4120-8382-6 | page=203}}</ref> They also go by the common name of '''fairy possum'''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Tyndale-Biscoe|first=Hugh|title=Life of marsupials|year=2004|publisher=CSIRO publishing|isbn=0-643-06257-2|chapter=Pygmy possums and sugar gliders: pollen eaters and sap suckers |page=[{{google books|KqtlPZJ9y8EC|page=203|plainurl=yes}} 203] }}</ref> On 2 March 1971, the State of Victoria made the Leadbeater's possum its [[List of Australian mammal emblems|faunal emblem]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Delacombe |first1=Rohan |author1-link=Rohan Delacombe |last2=Bolte |first2=Henry |author2-link=Henry Bolte |date=10 March 1971 |title=Faunal Emblems for the State of Victoria |website=Victoria Government Gazette – Online Archive 1836–1997 |publisher=State Library of Victoria |url=http://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au/images/1971/V/general/20.pdf |access-date=3 April 2017 |archive-date=7 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160407094030/http://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au/images/1971/V/general/20.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Guardian 2013">{{cite news |last=Milman |first=Oliver |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/may/26/logging-pushing-possum-towards-extinction |title=Government-backed logging 'pushing rare possum towards extinction |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=27 May 2013 |access-date=12 December 2016 |archive-date=3 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170403112151/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/may/26/logging-pushing-possum-towards-extinction |url-status=live }}</ref>

==History==
Leadbeater's possum is thought to have evolved about 20 million years ago.<ref>{{cite web |title=How to save a forest fairy from extinction |url=https://www.wilderness.org.au/articles/how-save-forest-fairy-extinction |work=The Wilderness Society |date=27 May 2014 |access-date=22 November 2014 |archive-date=29 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129065024/https://www.wilderness.org.au/articles/how-save-forest-fairy-extinction |url-status=live }}</ref> It was not discovered until 1867 and was originally known only through five specimens, the last one collected in 1909.{{r|ley196412}}<ref name="Friends">{{cite web|title=Facts about Leadbeater's Possum|url=http://leadbeaters.org.au/facts/|work=Help save Leadbearer's Possum|date=22 May 2009 |publisher=Friends of Leadbeater's Possum Inc.|access-date=26 September 2013|archive-date=28 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928191928/http://leadbeaters.org.au/facts/|url-status=live}}</ref> From that time on, the fear that it might be extinct gradually grew into near-certainty after the swamps and wetlands in Australia around [[Bass River (Victoria)|Bass River]] in south-west [[Gippsland]] were drained for farming in the early 1900s.<ref name="weekes">{{Cite news | last=Weekes | first=Peter | title=State's emblem nearly extinct | newspaper=The Sunday Age | location=Melbourne | page=1 | date=5 August 2007 | url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/states-emblem-nearly-extinct/2007/08/04/1185648212901.html | access-date=3 April 2017 | archive-date=4 April 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170404130420/http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/states-emblem-nearly-extinct/2007/08/04/1185648212901.html | url-status=live }}</ref>

By the time of the [[Black Friday (1939)|1939 Black Friday fires]], the species was thought to have been extinct.<ref name="Guardian 2013"/><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://lostandfoundnature.com/story_leadbeaters.html|title=Lost & Found - Once upon a time, there was an adventurer|last=Lost & Found|website=lostandfoundnature.com/story_leadbeaters.html|access-date=2018-04-08|archive-date=14 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171114050019/http://lostandfoundnature.com/story_leadbeaters.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Then, on 3 April 1961, a member of the species was rediscovered by naturalist Eric Wilkinson in the forests near [[Cambarville]], and the first specimen in more than 50 years was captured later in the month.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite book |last=Lindenmayer |first=David |title=Wildlife + Woodchips: Leadbeater's Possum— A Test Case for Sustainable Forestry |publisher=University of New South Wales Press |date=1996 |page=28 }}</ref><ref name="ley196412">{{Cite magazine
 |last=Ley
 |first=Willy
 |date=December 1964
 |title=The Rarest Animals
 |department=For Your Information
 |url=https://archive.org/stream/Galaxy_v23n02_1964-12#page/n93/mode/2up
 |magazine=Galaxy Science Fiction
 |pages=94–103
 }}</ref>

In 1961, a colony was discovered near [[Marysville, Victoria|Marysville]].<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Anonymous--> |title=Leadbeater's Possum  |newspaper=Herald Sun|date=20 September 2011}}</ref> Extensive searches since then have found the existing population in the highlands. However, the availability of suitable habitat is critical: forest must be neither too old nor too young, with conservation efforts for Leadbeater's possum involving protection of remaining old-growth stands, and maintenance of younger stands that are allowed to attain hollow-bearing age.<ref name="Macfarlane MA, Smith J, Lowe K 1998">{{cite book |last1=Macfarlane |first1=M.A. |last2=Smith |first2=J. |last3=Lowe |first3=K. |year=1998 |title=Leadbeater's Possum Recovery Plan, 1998–2002 |publisher=Department of Natural Resources and Environment |location=Melbourne}}</ref>

The combination of 40-year-old regrowth (for food) and large dead trees left still standing after the fires (for shelter and nesting) allowed the Leadbeater's possum population to expand to an estimated peak of about 7500 in the early 1980s.<ref name="Leadbeater's Possum">{{cite web |website=Australian Government, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities |url=http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=273 |title=Leadbeater's Possum |access-date=30 August 2013 |archive-date=22 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222020259/http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=273 |url-status=live }}</ref> From its peak in the 1980s, the Leadbeater's possum population was expected to further decline rapidly, by as much as 90%,<ref name=iucn/> due to a habitat bottleneck. The population has dropped sharply since 1996.<ref name="weekes"/> Particularly, the February 2009 [[Black Saturday bushfires]] destroyed 43% of Leadbeater's possums' habitat in the Central Highlands, halving the wild population to 1,500.<ref name="Guardian 2013"/> A study in 2014 concluded there is a 92% chance the Leadbeater's ecosystem in the Victoria central highlands will collapse within 50 years.<ref>{{cite web |title=Leadbeater's possum habitat 'almost certain to collapse' due to logging, fires |url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2014/nov/07/leadbeaters-possum-habitat-almost-certain-to-collapse-due-to-logging-fires |work=The Guardian |date=7 November 2014 |access-date=7 November 2014 |archive-date=30 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330220041/https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2014/nov/07/leadbeaters-possum-habitat-almost-certain-to-collapse-due-to-logging-fires |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Habits==
Leadbeater's possums are rarely seen as they are nocturnal, fast-moving, and occupy the upper storey of some of the tallest forest trees in the world.<ref name=iucn/> They have an average body length of 33&nbsp;cm (13 inches) with the tail included.<ref name="helmetedhoneyeater.org.au">{{cite web|title=Leadbeater's Possum|url=http://www.helmetedhoneyeater.org.au/leadbeaters_possum.htm|publisher=Friends of the Helmeted Honeyeater inc.|access-date=25 September 2013|archive-date=29 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170329162820/http://www.helmetedhoneyeater.org.au/leadbeaters_possum.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> They live in small family colonies of up to 12 individuals,<ref name="Friends"/> including one [[Monogamy in animals|monogamous]] breeding pair. Mating occurs only once a year, with a maximum of two joeys being born to each pair.<ref name="helmetedhoneyeater.org.au"/> All members sleep together in a nest made out of shredded bark in a tree hollow, anywhere from 6 to 30 metres above ground level and roughly in the centre of a territory of 3 hectares, which they defend actively. The society of Leadbeater's possums is [[Matriarchy|matriarchal]]: each group is dominated by only one female Leadbeater's possum that is active in expelling outsiders.<ref name="Friends"/> Other juvenile females are weaned off before they reach sexual maturity.<ref name="ADW">{{cite web|title=Leadbeater's Possum|url=http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Gymnobelideus_leadbeateri/|work=Animal Diversity Web|publisher=University of Michigan|access-date=25 September 2013|archive-date=2 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002064655/http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Gymnobelideus_leadbeateri/|url-status=live}}</ref> In addition, female Leadbeater's possums are more aggressive in nature, often engaging in frequent fights with other females, including their own daughters. Due to the constant attacks, young females are forced to leave much earlier than their male brothers, which results in the extremely high male to female ratio of 3:1.<ref name="ADW"/>

Solitary Leadbeater's possums have difficulty surviving: when young males disperse at about 15 months of age, they tend either to join another colony as a supernumerary member, or to gather together into bachelor groups while they wait to find a mate.

At dusk, Leadbeater's possums emerge from the nest and spread out to forage in the sub-canopy, often making substantial leaps from tree to tree (they require continuous [[understory]] to travel). Their diet is omnivorous: feeding on a range of wattle saps and exudates, [[lerp (biology)|lerps]], and a high proportion of [[arthropod]]s which they find under the loose bark of eucalypts, including spiders, crickets, termites and beetles. Plant exudates make up 80% of their energy intake, but the protein provided by the arthropods is essential for successful breeding.<ref name="Leadbeater's Possum"/>

Births are usually timed for the beginning of winter (May and June) or late spring (October and November). Most litters are of one or two young, which stay in the pouch for 80 to 90 days, and first emerge from the nest following this. Young, newly independent Leadbeater's possums are very vulnerable to [[owl]]s.

{{As of|2013|post=,}} Leadbeater's possums are found in three habitat types: lowland swamp gum, of Yellingbo Nature Conservation Reserve; montane ash forest, wet [[sclerophyll]] forest dominated by [[mountain ash]], [[shining gum]] and [[alpine ash]] with a dense mid-story of acacia species; sub-alpine woodlands of [[Mount Baw Baw]], [[Lake Mountain (Victoria)|Lake Mountain]] and [[Mount Bullfight]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Harley |first=Dan |date=June 2016 |title=An overview of actions to conserve Leadbeater's Possum 'Gymnobelideus leadbeateri' |journal=The Victorian Naturalist |volume=133 |issue=3 |pages=86-7 |via=Informit}}</ref>

==Threats==
[[File:Leadbeater's Possum called George - taxidermied 01.JPG|thumb|George, a taxidermied male Leadbeater's possum (''Gymnobelideus leadbeateri''), that Friends of Leadbeater's Possum uses for its educational work concerning this threatened species.]]
Leadbeater's possums and their forest habitat have been the subject of the largest [[longitudinal study]] of any species in the world—conducted by [[David Lindenmayer]], a professor at the [[Australian National University]], and his research assistants since 1983. Hundreds of peer reviewed scientific papers, journal articles and books have resulted from the years of data collection by the ANU team. Their findings show that the availability of suitable habitat is critical: forest must be neither too old nor too young, with conservation efforts for Leadbeater's possums involving protection of remaining old-growth stands, and maintenance of younger stands that are allowed to attain hollow-bearing age.<ref name="Macfarlane MA, Smith J, Lowe K 1998"/> [[Clearfell logging]] and [[salvage logging]] (after bushfires) have been proven by the researchers to have been the greatest threat to the possums' conservation in the wild over the last three decades of the 20th century.

===Habitat loss===
[[File:Leadbeater's Possum called George - taxidermied 02.JPG|thumb| George was found dead but intact on the side of a logging road about 2011 in the Victorian Central Highlands. It is assumed that George's home in the mountain ash (''[[Eucalyptus regnans]]'') forests was a victim of logging, and as his home was being carted away he fell off the logging truck.]]
The entire Central Highlands population distribution is confined to a 70 by 80 kilometre area. With 43% of its known Central Highlands habitat<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=95950 |title=Last captive Leadbeater's possum dies |website=9 News |agency=Australian Associated Press |publisher=ninemsn Pty Ltd |date=15 April 2006 |archive-date= 5 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120405140432/http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=95950 }}</ref> destroyed in the [[Black Saturday bushfires|bushfires]] of February 2009 – large areas of forest around [[Toolangi, Victoria|Toolangi]], [[Marysville, Victoria|Marysville]], [[Narbethong, Victoria|Narbethong, Cambarville]] and [[Healesville]] – the species' status is currently in doubt.<ref name="theaustralian 2009">{{cite news|url=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25040273-30417,00.html |title=A million native animals may have died in Victorian bushfires |agency=[[Australian Associated Press]]|date=11 February 2009 |work=The Australian |access-date=12 February 2009 |archive-date=14 February 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090214190625/http://theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0%2C25197%2C25040273-30417%2C00.html }}</ref> Consequently, in December 2012, David Lindenmayer and Zoos Victoria's threatened species biologist, Dan Harley, submitted an application to the federal government for a revision of the species status, providing evidence that it should be relisted as [[critically endangered]]. The then minister for the environment, [[Tony Burke]], agreed with the nomination and forwarded the application to the scientific committee of the EPBC Act requesting urgent consideration. On 22 April 2015, it was decided to relist the species as critically endangered.<ref name=Hunt2015>{{cite press release |url=http://www.environment.gov.au/minister/hunt/2015/mr20150422.html |title=Government moves to save Victoria's iconic Leadbeater's possum |first=Greg |last=Hunt |author-link=Greg Hunt |date=22 April 2015 |work=Minister for the Environment |access-date=23 April 2015 |publisher=Department of the Environment and Energy |archive-date=24 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150524130151/http://www.environment.gov.au/minister/hunt/2015/mr20150422.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

The only remaining population outside the Central Highlands is located at [[Yellingbo Nature Conservation Reserve]]. Harley has estimated this population to be fewer than 50.<ref>{{cite news |last=Morton |first=Adam |url=http://www.theage.com.au/environment/conservation/hello-possum-youre-an-emblem-of-extinction-20101001-1614u.html |title=Hello possum, you're an emblem of extinction |newspaper=The Age |date=2 October 2010 |access-date=23 January 2012 |archive-date=25 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110225064310/http://www.theage.com.au/environment/conservation/hello-possum-youre-an-emblem-of-extinction-20101001-1614u.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Logging===
As the species is [[endangered]] and occupies a restricted range,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lindenmayer |first1=D.B. |last2=Smith |first2=A.P. |last3=Craig |first3=S.A. |last4=Lumsden |first4=L.F. |title=A survey of the distribution of Leadbeater's possum, Gymnobelideus leadbeateri McCoy in the Central Highlands of Victoria | journal=Victorian Naturalist | volume=106 | year=1989 | pages=174–178}}</ref> [[logging]] continues to pose a critical threat to the Leadbeater's possum. The logging in 1993 of "much of the possum's habitat, known as zone one" a five hectare reserve east of [[Powelltown, Victoria|Powelltown]], followed a "mapping error".<ref>{{Cite news | last=O'Neill | first=Graeme | title=Rare possum's habitat destroyed by mistake | newspaper=The Age |location=Melbourne | page=5 | date=12 May 1993}}</ref> Author Peter Preuss stated that the possum's population faltered in 1997 with current habitat (limited to a 50-square-kilometre area) under threat from logging. He emphasised the need to relaunch a breeding program.<ref>{{Cite news | url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/death-puts-spotlight-on-leadbeater-plight/2006/04/15/1144521549747.html | last=Elder | first=John | title=Death puts spotlight on Leadbeater plight | newspaper=The Sunday Age | location=Melbourne | page=5 | date=16 April 2006 | access-date=5 August 2013 | archive-date=9 November 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109132437/http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/death-puts-spotlight-on-leadbeater-plight/2006/04/15/1144521549747.html | url-status=live }}</ref>

Despite a joint federal and state government plan to save it, since the 1980s, the Leadbeater's possum population halved to around 2000{{citation needed|date=August 2012}} even before the Black Saturday fires. Many more were killed early in 2007 when the government-backed enterprise company, [[VicForests]], bulldozed large firebreaks through Leadbeater's monitoring stations following the Christmas fires – firebreaks and clear-felling also prevent breeding with nearby colonies.<ref name="weekes"/>

[[File:David Lindenmeyer DSC 1882.JPG|thumb|150px|[[David Lindenmayer]] talking about the preservation of the Leadbeater's possum in Melbourne]]
[[David Lindenmayer]] (Australian National University) has argued that the need for nest boxes indicates that logging practices are not ecologically sustainable for conserving hollow-dependent species like the Leadbeater's possum.<ref>{{cite journal | author-link = David Lindenmayer | title = Comment – Economics of a nest-box program for the conservation of an endangered species: a re-appraisal | journal=Canadian Journal of Forest Research | volume = 32 | pages = 2244–2247 |date=December 2002 | doi = 10.1139/x02-142 | last1=Lindenmayer |first1=D.B. | last2 = MacGregor | first2 = C. | last3 = Gibbons | first3 = P. | issue = 12 | bibcode = 2002CaJFR..32.2244L }}</ref> Studies have shown that clear-felling operations, such as the logging run in [[state forest]] between the [[Yarra Ranges National Park]] and Mount Bullfight Conservation Reserve in February 2006, led to the deaths of most possums in the area—"Adult animals have a strong affinity with their home range and are reluctant to move".<ref>{{cite news |last=Hutchison |first=Tracee |url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/a-possum-stares-extinction-in-the-face-/2006/02/17/1140151809030.html |title=A possum stares extinction in the face |newspaper=[[The Age]] |date=18 February 2006 |access-date=6 March 2010 |archive-date=4 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604151312/http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/a-possum-stares-extinction-in-the-face-/2006/02/17/1140151809030.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Salvage logging]] since the fires has posed a further risk to this extremely diminished population<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lindenmayer |first1=David |last2=Banks |first2=Sam |last3=McBurney |first3=Lachlan |last4=Blair |first4=David |title=After the fire: Leadbeater's long journey |journal=Ecos |issue=157 |pages=1–5 |date=25 October 2010 |url=http://www.ecosmagazine.com/?paper=EC10020 |access-date=3 April 2017 |archive-date=4 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170404043816/http://www.ecosmagazine.com/?paper=EC10020 |url-status=live }}</ref> with [[Clearcutting|clear-felling]] also approved by VicForests in the few remaining unburnt areas, such as the Kalatha Creek area of [[Toolangi State Forest]] in 2010, a move opposed by the [[Yarra Ranges Shire Council]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.yarraranges.vic.gov.au/News_Directory/Call_to_stop_logging_Toolangi |title=Call to stop logging Toolangi |date=18 June 2010 |website=Welcome to Yarra Ranges |publisher=Yarra Ranges Shire Council |archive-date=26 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101126122010/http://www.yarraranges.vic.gov.au/News_Directory/Call_to_stop_logging_Toolangi }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://leadbeaters.org.au/faunal-emblem-threatened-the-animal-victims-of-black-saturday |title=Faunal Emblem Threatened: The animal victims of Black Saturday |date=18 June 2010 |website=Friends of Leadbeater's Possum |quote=Transcript of ABC TV Broadcast: 22/05/2009 Reporter: Kate Arnott |access-date=17 September 2010 |archive-date=3 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110303061200/http://leadbeaters.org.au/faunal-emblem-threatened-the-animal-victims-of-black-saturday/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2012 MyEnvironment challenged [[VicForests]]' operations in three planned coupes in the Toolangi forest in the supreme court. The basis of their claim being that "VicForests did not undertake adequate pre-logging surveys prior to logging in an area that we claim meets Leadbeater's habitat and therefore should not have been logged."<ref>{{cite web |website=MyEnvironment |url=http://www.myenvironment.net.au/index.php/me/Leadbeater-s-Possum2 |title=Leadbeater's Possum |access-date=30 August 2013 |publisher=MyEnvironment Network }}</ref> The proposed logging is to supply (taxpayer subsidised) pulp to manufacture 'Reflex' copy paper—a product of Australian Paper owned by the Japanese company, [[Nippon Paper Group]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-02-06/toolangi-logging-threatens-rare-possum2c-court-told/3813806 |title=Toolangi logging threatens rare possum, court told |last=Farnsworth |first=Sarah |date=6 February 2012 |work=ABC News |access-date=16 February 2012 |archive-date=10 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120210000743/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-02-06/toolangi-logging-threatens-rare-possum2c-court-told/3813806 |url-status=live }}</ref> During the case, film was recorded of a Leadbeater's possum in the contested coupe area. The case was lost by MyEnvironment due to inconsistencies in the wording of the Leadbeater's Possum Action Statement (10 years out of date) and the forestry prescriptions adhered to by VicForests. The group immediately appealed the decision by the presiding judge Justice Osborne, and the supreme court accepted there was a sound basis for an appeal to the original determination. A supreme court appeal was heard on 24 June 2013 before three judges and MyEnvironment was represented in court by [[Julian Burnside]] QC. The appeal was lost.{{citation needed |date=April 2017}}

===Feral cats===
Previously [[Cats in Australia#Feral cats|feral cats]] had only been considered a peripheral threat to Leadbeater's possums, but recent research has found video evidence of cats preying on possums leaving nesting boxes, and of possum remains in stomach contents of trapped feral cats. It is now considered that cats may be a more significant threat to possum populations, particularly in areas already disturbed by logging or bushfires.<ref>[http://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2018-07-26/feral-cat-leadbeaters-possum/10034052?section=science Feral cats filmed preying on nesting Leadbeater's possums] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180727045631/http://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2018-07-26/feral-cat-leadbeaters-possum/10034052?section=science |date=27 July 2018 }} ''ABC News'', 26 July 2018. Retrieved 27 July 2018.</ref>

===Legislation===
On 27 June 2013 the [[Denis Napthine|Napthine]] led State government passed legislative changes to allow VicForests access to Victoria's forests for the next 25 years and to be self monitoring (this follows the success of other recent cases preventing logging of remaining possum habitat). According to [[The Wilderness Society (Australia)|The Wilderness Society]], "the Victorian government ... [is] virtually signing the death warrant of the remaining 500 or so Leadbeater's possums."<ref>{{cite news |first=Warrick |last=Jordan |url=http://www.theage.com.au/business/native-woodchipping-sector-in-rapid-decline-20111228-1pcu0.html |title=Native woodchipping sector in rapid decline |newspaper=The Age |date=29 December 2011 |access-date=20 January 2012 |archive-date=7 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140707081250/http://www.theage.com.au/business/native-woodchipping-sector-in-rapid-decline-20111228-1pcu0.html |url-status=live }}</ref> These changes to the ''Sustainable Forests (Timber) Act 2004'' will have implications not only for the Leadbeater's possum but to the biodiversity, carbon storage and water catchments of the forests.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.legislation.vic.gov.au/domino/web_notes/LDMS/PubPDocs_Arch.nsf/5da7442d8f61e92bca256de50013d008/ca2570ce0018ac6dca257b4f001cddba!OpenDocument |title=Sustainable Forests (Timber) Amendment Bill 2013 |date=28 June 2013 |website=Victorian Legislation and Parliamentary Documents |publisher=Victoria State Government |access-date=3 April 2017 |archive-date=4 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170404130349/http://www.legislation.vic.gov.au/domino/web_notes/LDMS/PubPDocs_Arch.nsf/5da7442d8f61e92bca256de50013d008/ca2570ce0018ac6dca257b4f001cddba!OpenDocument |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Milman|first=Oliver|title=Conservationists fear Victoria's cuts to logging green tape|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/jun/27/conservation-victoria-logging-endangered-species|access-date=30 July 2013|newspaper=Guardian UK|date=27 June 2013|archive-date=10 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131010010711/http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/jun/27/conservation-victoria-logging-endangered-species|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Conservation==
On 22 April 2015, [[Greg Hunt]], the Minister for the Environment, announced that the Leadbeater's possum would be listed as a "critically endangered" species under the EPBC Act.<ref name=Hunt2015/>

The forestry industry and [[Barnaby Joyce]] advocated for the Leadbeater's possum to be taken off the critically endangered list.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Cox |first1=Lisa |title=Leadbeater's possum: conservationists say draft report proves endangered status |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jul/09/leadbeaters-possum-conservations-say-draft-report-proves-endangered-status |access-date=9 July 2018 |work=The Guardian |date=8 July 2018 |archive-date=8 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180708200811/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jul/09/leadbeaters-possum-conservations-say-draft-report-proves-endangered-status |url-status=live }}</ref> Following uproar from the logging industry & the National Party it was soon placed under re-assessment. On the eve of an ABC 4 Corner episode on "Extinction" (24 June 2019) the then Environment Minister, Sussan Ley announced that it would be re-listed as "critically endangered".

Of its [[Eucalyptus regnans|ash]] forest habitat, about 30% is protected, while the rest is allocated to logging.

In addition there is a small isolated, genetically distinct, population protected within the [[Yellingbo Nature Conservation Reserve]].<ref name="iucn"/> This lowland habitat consist primarily of Sedge-rich ''Eucalyptus camphora'' Swamp.

In 2013 it was proposed to create the "[[Great Forest National Park]]" to protect the mountain ash forest habitat.<ref>{{cite news |last=Arup |first=Tom |url=http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/push-for-national-park-to-save-possum-20130828-2sqy4.html |title=Push for national park to save possum |newspaper=[[The Age]] |date=29 August 2013 |access-date=31 August 2013 |archive-date=29 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130829141959/http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/push-for-national-park-to-save-possum-20130828-2sqy4.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The park would protect the area between [[Kinglake National Park|Kinglake]], [[Baw Baw National Park|Baw Baw]] and [[Lake Eildon National Park|Eildon]] [[national parks]], which is also important for Melbourne's drinking water and as a [[carbon sink]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.greatforestnationalpark.com.au/index.html |title=Great Forest National Park |publisher=My/Forests Inc |access-date=31 August 2013 |archive-date=6 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130906111944/http://www.greatforestnationalpark.com.au/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Since 2004, the Friends of Leadbeater's Possum community group has been active in raising the animal's profile and lobbying for its conservation.{{Citation needed|date=April 2017}}

Through a joint community/government program, "Project Possum" has installed approximately 200 plastic nest boxes in the wild. Many of these nest boxes were paid for by a community fundraising campaign. The nest boxes are primarily used to assist with ongoing population monitoring and supplement the declining forest habitat. Project Possum has targeted two forest types: montane ash forest (i.e. Mt Ritchie, Dowey Spur, Ben Cairn) and sub-alpine woodland (i.e. Mount Baw Baw, Lake Mountain, and Mount Bullfight). The nest boxes are routinely checked for habitation every one or two years. Nest boxes located in the sub-alpine woodland tend to have a high uptake, while those located in montane ash forest have very limited uptake. An additional 50 nest boxes are due for installation in 2015–16.{{Citation needed|date=April 2017}}

=== Captive breeding ===
[[Des Hackett]] is credited as the first person to successfully breed the Leadbeater's possum in captivity.  In May 2006, the last Australian specimen at the time, held at [[Healesville Sanctuary]], died. In January 2010, Kasia, at the time the last captive Leadbeater's possum worldwide, died at [[Toronto Zoo]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Leadbeater's Possum |url=http://www.zoo.org.au/leadbeaters |website=Zoos Victoria |access-date=18 September 2011 |date=19 September 2011 |archive-date=11 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111011032038/http://zoo.org.au/leadbeaters }}</ref>{{failed verification|date=April 2017}}  {{citation needed span|date=April 2017|text=The predation in early 2012 by a feral cat}} of the few [[Lake Mountain (Victoria)|Lake Mountain]] Leadbeater's possums remaining after the 2009 bushfire led to three remaining individuals being taken into captivity for their own protection.<ref>{{cite web |date=13 February 2012 |title=Three Leadbeater's Possums from Lake Mountain brought into care |website=Zoos Victoria |publisher=Victoria State Government |url=https://www.zoo.org.au/news/three-leadbeaters-possums-from-lake-mountain-brought-into-care |access-date=3 April 2017 |archive-date=14 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130314202936/http://zoo.org.au/news/three-leadbeaters-possums-from-lake-mountain-brought-into-care |url-status=live }}</ref> One animal has since died.<ref>{{cite news|title=Endangered possums taken to wildlife sanctuary|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-02-13/endangered-possums-taken-to-wildlife-sanctuary/3826642|access-date=14 February 2012|newspaper=ABC News|date=13 February 2012|archive-date=15 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120215200351/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-02-13/endangered-possums-taken-to-wildlife-sanctuary/3826642|url-status=live}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=April 2017}} There are no plans to release the remaining two animals despite a further two colonies of Leadbeater's possums having recently been located at Lake Mountain in remnant gully vegetation. These two Lake Mountain animals are now on public display in the Nocturnal House as ambassadors for the species. Healesville Sanctuary's captive breeding program for Leadbeater's possums recommenced in May 2012 and now comprises 6 individuals from the genetically distinct [[Yellingbo Nature Conservation Reserve|Yellingbo]] population. {{As of|2015|05|post=,}} they are housed as pairs in large enclosures off display, but are yet to breed.{{citation needed|date=April 2017}}

==See also==
* Close relatives of Leadbeater's possum are the [[sugar glider]], [[squirrel glider]], [[yellow-bellied glider]], [[mahogany glider]] and [[striped possum]].
* [[Goblin flea]], an insect which only lives on Leadbeater's possum.

==References==
{{Reflist|40em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Gymnobelideus leadbeateri}}

* ARKive – [https://web.archive.org/web/20060409092135/http://www.arkive.org/species/GES/mammals/Gymnobelideus_leadbeateri/ images and movies of the Leadbeater's possum (''Gymnobelideus leadbeateri'')]
* [http://www.leadbeaters.org.au Friends of Leadbeater's Possum]
* [http://www.myenvironment.net.au MyEnvironment] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809113846/http://www.myenvironment.net.au/ |date=9 August 2020 }}
* [http://www.edgeofexistence.org/mammals/species_info.php?id=54 Leadbeater's Possum EDGE page]
* [http://wiki.prov.vic.gov.au/index.php/Conservation_of_Leadbeater%27s_Possum Conservation of Leadbeater's Possum ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160814040225/http://wiki.prov.vic.gov.au/index.php/Conservation_of_Leadbeater%27s_Possum |date=14 August 2016 }}
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vkZP5RZGnk Lost and Found: the Rediscovery of Leadbeater's Possum], video from Museum Victoria.

{{Diprotodontia|P.1}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q301042}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:EDGE species]]
[[Category:Endangered fauna of Australia]]
[[Category:Mammals of Victoria (state)]]
[[Category:Possums]]
[[Category:Mammals described in 1867]]
[[Category:Symbols of Victoria]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Frederick McCoy]]