A Tiny Endangered Creature That ‘Moves Like Greased Lightning’ Has Been Found in an Unexpected Place
Trail cameras captured an elusive Leadbeater’s possum in the Australian state of New South Wales, where they were thought to be locally extinct
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Researchers in Australia were scrolling through thousands of trail camera photos when they spotted an unmistakable bushy tail on the screen. They were overjoyed: The images showed a Leadbeater’s possum, a tiny creature thought to be extinct in that particular region of the continent.
A trail camera in Kosciuszko National Park, located in the state of New South Wales, captured seven images of a Leadbeater’s possum (Gymnobelideus leadbeateri) over the course of about ten seconds. The photos were a welcome surprise, because scientists thought the critically endangered species only lived in Victoria, some 150 miles away.
“It jumped right out at me,” says Fred Ford, a senior threatened species officer with the New South Wales government, to the Australian Associated Press.
Ecologists were looking for a different endangered species, the smoky mouse, when they set up trail cameras throughout Kosciuszko National Park in 2024. Once a year had passed, they collected the devices and began the process of sifting through the millions of photos.
They did find photos of the smoky mouse. But, from a camera placed near Yarrangobilly Caves, they were also shocked to find images of a “tiny possum scampering through leaf litter, holding its distinctive club-shaped tail erect,” researchers write in the Conversation. The photos captured the creature’s heart-shaped face, as well as the stripes running along its face and back.
“You have to be out there looking at the world to find these rare species,” Ford tells the Australian Associated Press. “You might not be specifically looking for what you find, but the more you look, particularly using modern techniques such as remote cameras and environmental DNA, the more chance you have to find them.”
New South Wales scientists were confident the animal in the trail camera photos was a Leadbeater’s possum. But, to be sure, they consulted with experts at Zoos Victoria and the Australian National University, who confirmed the creature’s identity.
The Leadbeater’s possum is a small, elusive, tree-dwelling marsupial. From nose to tail tip, they typically measure about a foot long—with their tails accounting for roughly half of that length. They live in groups of up to 12 individuals and will aggressively defend their territories, which usually span 5 to 7 acres.
“It looks like a sugar glider, except it's not a glider,” says David Lindenmayer, an ecologist with the Australian National University, to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Alasdair McDonald. “It's a jumping possum that moves like greased lightning in the forest understorey.”
Nicknamed “forest fairies,” Leadbeater’s possums are the faunal emblem of Victoria—a designation similar to the state animals of the United States. The creatures were thought to have been extinct when they were rediscovered in 1961 near the town of Marysville, per the Australian Associated Press.
Today, an estimated 4,000 of them live in the wild in Victoria, split between highland and lowland populations that are genetically distinct, per the Sydney Morning Herald’s Bianca Hall and Caitlin Fitzsimmons. The lowland population has shrunk to just 40 individuals.
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Zoos Victoria
Finding a Leadbeater’s possum in Kosciuszko National Park was not a total surprise. Researchers had a hunch the marsupials might be living there, based on the lush, damp forested ecosystem that exists in some parts of the 1.7-million-acre park.
In 2010, they found the jaw bones of a Leadbeater’s possum that had been regurgitated by an owl, per the Conversation. But other bones found nearby were between 140 and 200 years old—so this discovery only proved the possums had inhabited the area at some point in time.
The photos were the first proof of a living population in the park.
Now that they know a population exists in New South Wales, researchers are eager to learn more. They suspect the creatures may be genetically distinct from those living in Victoria, based on the long distance between the two locations.
“They are not necessarily an easy animal to catch, but they are [able to be trapped] with the right techniques,” says Lindenmayer, who began looking for the Leadbeater’s possum in Kosciuszko National Park more than 30 years ago, to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. “It will be possible to take small tissue or hair samples to work out what its genetics are to see whether it's closely or distantly related to the animals in Victoria.”
Scientists are also quick to point out that the discovery of a previously hidden Leadbeater’s possum population does not negate the need to protect the creatures. In Victoria, the animals’ numbers are dwindling because of predation by cats, habitat loss due to logging and wildfires, climate change and inbreeding.
They argue that it’s important to protect the remaining wild habitats that are vital for the survival of at-risk species. Leadbeater’s possums, for instance, need old-growth trees with holes for denning and breeding, as well as smaller trees that provide cover as they move around in search of insects, nectar and sap to eat.
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But passive habitat protection is not enough, conservationists argue. Work also needs to be done to remove invasive species—like feral horses in Kosciuszko National Park, for example. Efforts are underway to cull the park’s horse population via aerial and ground shooting, trapping and rehoming.
“This special find in Kosciuszko National Park once again highlights why the [government] is taking action to remove invasive species to protect Australia’s only mainland alpine region, which spans the [New South Wales] and Victorian border,” says Penny Sharpe, minister for the environment in New South Wales, in a statement.
The discovery also highlights the importance of surveys and monitoring work, including basic species inventories in conservation areas. Other elusive creatures may also be out there somewhere, researchers just haven’t found them yet.
“Just because a species has not been positively detected at a location, you cannot be confident that it is not there,” Lindenmayer says in a statement. “Many of our most imperiled species are hard to detect.”
Moving forward, researchers hope to install additional trail cameras throughout the national park. They also plan to revisit past surveys, to see if they can spot any Leadbeater’s possums they might have initially missed. The New South Wales government, meanwhile, is pursuing an expedited process for getting the species listed as threatened within the state.
