Tiny Possums Discovered On Kangaroo Island After Fears Bushfires Had Wiped Them Out

December 6, 2020

The world's smallest possum has been found on Kangaroo Island, an island off the mainland of South Australia, for the first time since its habitat was mostly destroyed by bushfires.

pygmy possum
Credit: Ashlee Benc / Kangaroo Island Land for Wildlife

Ecologist Pat Hodgens said the discovery -- nearly one year after the fires -- is extremely exciting.

"There's only really been 113 formal records of the species," Hodgens told ABC News. "So certainly not very common and, obviously, the summer bushfires burnt through much of that habitat that species had, but we were certainly hopeful that we would find them."

pygmy possum
Credit: Kangaroo Island Land for Wildlife

Kangaroo Island Land for Wildlife found and photographed the tiny possum earlier this week as part of a larger recovery effort in the wake of the bushfires.

The conservation group surveyed 20 fauna sites and worked with 20 landholders across 10 properties to discover over 20 different wildlife species -- including southern brown bandicoots, native bush rats, Western and little pygmy possums, tammar wallabies, bull skinks and much more.

Western pygmy possum / Little pygmy possum