Ever wished your favourite animal could be a baby forever? This little furball isn’t a mouse: it’s a tiny possum, and one of Australia’s rarest creatures, living exclusively in Australia’s alpine region at 1400m and higher. Get to know a bit more about this hardy little mountain marsupial.
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Surprise! Not extinct!
Photo InformationCharlotte Pass
Kosciuszko National Park
Lucy Morrell/DPIE (2005)
The mountain pygmy-possum was once named the ‘Rarest Creature on Earth’ by The Guinness Book of Records. But how? One day in 1966, a little furball wandered into a ski lodge, and someone was smart enough to put down their hot toddy and realise it wasn’t a rodent.
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Cuteness runs in the family
Photo InformationMountain pygmy-possum (left) and Eastern pygmy-possum (right)
Mel Schroder/DPIE (left)
LOOK AT THOSE EYES! On the left, you’ve got the mountain pygmy-possum. Cuteness overload. On the right, its smaller, and also endangered but equally squee-inducing cousin, the eastern pygmy-possum.
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Champion eater
Photo InformationLucy Morrell/DPIE
Tasty! This possum gorges on food before hibernating, packing on the weight to a whopping, um, 80g. Take note snowboarders: these mini marsupials often leave a stash of snacks nearby for when they wake up, so watch your step.
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A True Australian Hero
Photo InformationThe Mountain pygmy-possum is a critically endangered species
Kosciuszko National Park
Cate Aitken/OEH
Like a lot of Aussies, this species punches above its weight: it’s our only native mammal that lives solely in an alpine habitat. Some good life goals right there.
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Hang in there!
Photo InformationMountain pygmy possum
Mel Schroder/DPIE (2009)
The mountain pygmy-possum is two steps away from total extinction with only a few thousand left in the wild, meaning this cutie is on the critically endangered list.
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Greatest threats
Photo InformationA Mountain pygmy-possum eats some plum pine
Blue Cow, Perisher Valley
Kosciuszko National Park
Lucy Morrell/DPIE (2013)
Habitat degradation, climate change, feral predators and inbreeding are the greatest threats to the last remaining populations around Mount Kosciuszko (NSW), Mount Bogong (Vic), and Mount Buller (Vic).
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What’s next?
Photo InformationMountain pygmy possum aka Burramys parvus is the largest of the pygmy possums found in Australia
Kosciuszko National Park
Lucy Morrell/DPIE (2012)
There’s still hope for the Mountain Pygmy-possum with the Saving our Species program managing three specific sites for this endangered species in NSW.
Get involved and help save threatened species by joining a volunteer or citizen science program in a national park near you. It’s great way to spend time in nature and make new friends too!
