Australian Wildlife Conservancy reintroduces brushtail possum to Mid West with recent sighting at reserves

Brushtail possums have been successfully reintroduced to two wildlife sanctuaries in the Mid West and Wheatbelt after they disappeared from the region for almost a century. In May 2021, Australian Wildlife Conservancy ecologists released 49 brushtail possums into the Mt Gibson Wildlife Sanctuary, located on Badimia Country in the northern Wheatbelt. The species were sighted on motion sensor cameras in October last year, proving the program’s success. One possum was recently detected 40km away at the neighbouring Charles Darwin Reserve. Brushtail possum was the ninth species restored to the sanctuary as part of an ambitious reintroduction project underway since 2015. Bush Heritage Australia senior ecologist Dr Michelle Hall said the team was astounded to see the unmistakable image of a possum while reviewing photos from their motion-sensor cameras. “It’s always exciting to see a species we’ve never seen before exploring our reserves,” she said. “This individual possum most likely came from across the highway into the eucalypt woodlands of Charles Darwin Reserve. After 20-years under Bush Heritage’s management, the landscape is thriving and now offers many suitable habitats for native species. “Hopefully this possum will find a tree hollow in the woodlands to escape ground-based predators.” Both reserves are situated in the Southwest Australia Biodiversity Hotspot, nearby Ninghan Indigenous Protected Area, Karara Rangeland Park, Biluny Wells Nature Reserve and a proposed nature reserve at Lake Moore. Dr Hall said conservation required multiple organisations with complementary approaches working toward a shared goal of protecting and restoring habitat. “The integrated pest management by both organisations in the Mid West WA plays an important role in providing a safe habitat for animals like the brushtail possum and this sighting highlights how successful landscape-scale connectivity and collaboration can be,” she said.