1. The environmental challenges that face the sustainability of the Leadbetter Possums habitat.
1.1. Logging
1.1.1. There is a lot of logging underway in the central highlands. How is the forest managed and is the plight of the Leadbetter possum considered?
1.1.1.1. Have they done scientific research to ensure the are not destroying precious natural habitat where existing populations of leadbeater possums live?
1.1.1.2. Researches have found that they are highly sensitive to clearfell logging
1.1.1.2.1. What is clearfell logging?
1.2. Bushfires
1.2.1. The black Saturday bush fires destroyed approximately 45% of high quality habitat for the Leadbeater possum.
1.2.1.1. Researches found that massive numbers where destroyed in the bush fires and many of the older trees with hollows did not survive or regenerate.
1.2.1.1.1. Bushfires are an act of mother nature how can this be managed?
1.3. Urban Development
1.4. Unique Habitat
1.4.1. Their requirement for year-round food supplies and tree-holes to take refuge in during the day restricts them to mixed-age wet forest with a dense mid-story of Acacia.
2. Who is doing something about the challenges facing the Leadbeater Possum and what are they doing?
2.1. Zoos Victoria
2.1.1. Identifying the most at risk populations of Leadbeater possums
2.1.1.1. Lowland Yellingbo population
2.1.2. Introducing captive breading program to insure the species survival.
2.1.3. Highlight the plight of the leadbeater possum.
2.1.4. Gaining community support and volunteers.
2.1.5. Establish releasing techniques to ensure successful re-release into the wild.
2.2. VIC Forests
2.2.1. Helping the development of man-made hollows
2.2.2. Implementing an ecologically sustainable management plan
2.3. Australian Government
2.3.1. $2.5 million of funding towards the protection and recovery of the Leadbeater’s possum (Australian Government 2015)
2.3.2. Planting trees to regenerate the forest
2.4. Australian National University
2.4.1. Over 30 years of research has been done on the Leadbeater possum
3. General Information
3.1. Life Cycle
3.1.1. Dose this have something to do with is diminishing numbers?
3.2. where they are located
3.2.1. Restricted to small pockets of Alpine Ash, Mountain Ash and Snow Gum forests in the Central Highlands of Victoria north-east of Melbourne
3.3. What is the suspected numbers and is it on the endangered list?
3.3.1. It was estimated that there was about 7500 individuals in the early 1980s however there is set to be a 90% fall in those numbers by 2025 (Department of the Environment , 2015).