celebrating leadbeaters rediscovery

It was wonderful to attend the celebration of the 50 year anniversary of the rediscovery of Victoria's faunal emblem, the Leadbeaters Possum. The celebration, held at the Melbourne Museum, recognised the enormous achievements of Eric Wilkinson, who rediscovered this tiny mammal on the 3rd April, 50 years ago. It was great to hear Eric recount his story of the sighting of the Leadbeaters Possum in the Mountain Ash forests near Marysville. .................................................................................................................. Pictured left to right: Eric Wilkinson - at the time (1961) an amateur naturalist who rediscovered Leadbeaters Possum, Cr Samantha Dunn - Shire of Yarra Ranges, we are very privileged to be home to this very special possum and Sera Blair - President of Friends of Leadbeaters Possum, Sera set up the group to try to ensure the ongoing survival of Leadbeaters Possum. ................................................................................... Leadbeaters Possum is critically endangered with less than 1,000 left in the wild and is facing extinction. It is endemic to Victoria and for habitat relies on at least 150 year old Mountain Ash, Shining Gum or Alpine Ash. Logging continues to be a key threat to this arboreal mammal and Eric isn't so sure we'll be celebrating the 100 year anniversary for the survival of this species. .............................................................. ................................ The continued logging of Mountain Ash forests in the Central Highlands will have an enormous effect on the ongoing survival of this species. Without a well connected canopy, possums cannot move throughout the forest and with the continuing loss of habitat trees to logging the possums have nowhere to live. ........................................................................................................ Melbourne Museum are hosting an exhibition "Leadbeaters Possum - our state emblem under fire" to celebrate this tiny mammal's survival and give people the opportunity to learn about efforts underway to ensure its survival. The exhibition is on till 27 April 2011.