Western Ringtail Possums: Core Habitat, Abundance, and Distribution

Project aim

The Western Ringtail Possum is suffering a dramatic decline in parts of its range throughout the South West. The population occurring along the South Coast around Albany is a stronghold for the species, but information about this population is lacking. The projects aim is to increase our knowledge of numbers and habitat preferences of this important population in the urban areas of Albany. This information is vital in aiding its management and conservation.

Albany Backyard Possum Sleuths

Monitoring of Western Ringtail Possums has been carried out within the Mt Clarence/Adelaide and Mt. Melville Reserves via regular spotlighting. To compliment this monitoring, information on possums living in backyards of households surrounding these reserves is being obtained by a team of "sleuths" that are setting up remote cameras in their backyards for 7 nights every month, in an attempt to gain a better understanding of how this species uses the urban environment. Information such as how frequently they visit gardens, when are there young in the population, what plants are they feeding on and much more can all be gathered by the use of the backyard cameras.