Overview

• Wildlife cameras set for a smoky mouse survey captured seven images of the 125-gram possum in October 2024 amid nearly one million photos reviewed.
• This marks the first recorded sighting of Leadbeater’s possum in New South Wales since European settlement, indicating a previously undetected relic colony.
• The NSW Environment Department has deployed additional field teams and cameras across high-altitude forests to map the possum’s distribution.
• Researchers plan to collect small tissue and hair samples for DNA analysis to determine whether the NSW population represents a distinct subspecies.
• Conservationists highlight the need to protect old-growth habitat and remove invasive wild horses to secure the possum’s long-term survival.