Skip to playerSkip to main content
  • 5 hours ago
A breeding program for the endangered mountain pygmy possum claims to be successfully adapting the species to the impacts of climate change. The miniature marsupials are used to the cold snowy peaks of the high country but a sanctuary in the relatively warmer climate of Lithgow west of Sydney has increased its population six-fold in six years.

Category

📺
TV
Transcript
00:03These pocket-sized possums spend half the year living under rocks on the peaks of the
00:08snowy mountains, but global warming has left this native species exposed.
00:13Snakes and cats and foxes and those sort of things predate on mountain swimming possums.
00:18Here at the Secret Creek Sanctuary, conservationists are preparing the marsupials for warmer temperatures
00:23by breeding them at a lower altitude.
00:25Breeding them here at a thousand metres will help them live through climate change.
00:31We're adapting them to lower altitudes and higher temperatures and different mating cycles.
00:36It's led to rapid growth in the number of possums at the sanctuary.
00:40We started off with six possums many years ago, but since then we've grown the population to about 36
00:46over a matter of probably six years, seven years.
00:51It's hoped the research will eventually arrest the decline of these mountain pygmy possums.
00:56It feels really good to be involved and I think if we don't do it and no one does, it's
01:01a species we could lose.
01:03A species on the brink, adapting to a new climate.
01:07The attraction is simple, but it's a solo and the distances cannot vary.
01:10Fake son rich accordingly on além of the species.
01:10The add on the byumb frilly scheme of which black is also shown on the embarkingback.
Comments

Recommended