Latest news with #KosciuszkoNationalPark
ABC News
4 days ago
- Health
- ABC News
Endangered Leadbeater's possum found in Kosciuszko National Park
A forest expert says after decades of speculation, scientists may have stumbled upon a new subspecies of the critically endangered Leadbeater's possum inside Kosciuszko National Park. Forest ecologist David Lindenmayer said while the possum was thought to be extinct in New South Wales, a research team from the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water had likely stumbled across a new subspecies of the animal. After reviewing almost 1 million images from ground-based wildlife cameras set up to survey the also critically endangered smoky mouse, the possum was spotted in seven photos taken over a period of just 10 seconds in October. The images weren't discovered until last week. "It looks like a sugar glider, except it's not a glider," Professor Lindenmayer said. "It's a jumping possum that moves like greased lightning in the forest understorey, and this really illustrates the importance of large, protected areas like Kosciuszko National Park." All that was previously known about the mammal's NSW population was from fossil records from around the Yarrangobilly Caves and the Wombeyan Caves, outside Goulburn. "I think this is a relic population that has always been there, just in very small numbers that are very hard to detect," Professor Lindenmayer said. "This new discovery is very significant because other subspecies of the possum in Victoria are now getting perilously close to being lost. "There is a lowland population in southern Victoria, which is now down to about 40 individuals. "This new discovery shows there are some other safety populations outside that one." Two Leadbeater's possums were recently released into Coranderrk Bushland Nature Conservation Reserve in Victoria, in a decade-long effort to help rehabilitate the species. Professor Lindenmayer said after a climate model dating back to 1989 had predicted the possible presence of the marsupial in Kosciuszko National Park, he had been unable to sight the animal. "I spent several months wandering around the park doing night-time surveys and daytime vegetation assessments, and I never saw one in the park," he said. "I had a feeling it might be there, so this new discovery is wonderful news." NSW Environment Minister Penny Sharpe said the department would now conduct further surveys on the population. "It's an amazing discovery that we weren't expecting," she said. "We are really hopeful that this means this possum that we thought was previously extinct in NSW, is actually making a recovery." Ms Sharpe said the department would work with Victorian authorities on better understanding the species. "We know there are many threatened species, so to find one in New South Wales that we thought was extinct gives great hope to all our environmental programs that animals can return if we look after their habitat," she said. Professor Lindenmayer said while improvements in survey technology, such as cameras, had helped lead to the discovery, more would not be known until the population's genes were sequenced. "I think the population has been quite isolated from the populations in central Victoria, and they are not necessarily an easy animal to catch, but they are [able to be trapped] with the right techniques," he said. "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."
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Trail camera captures extinct animal in iconic Aussie national park: 'Extraordinary'
A tiny possum believed to be extinct in NSW has been discovered in trail camera images inside the iconic Kosciuszko National Park. The incredible images of the Leadbeater's possum were inadvertently captured during research for another endangered species, and have left experts thrilled. The critically endangered species, weighing only 125g, has only ever been recorded alive in Victoria. The only trace of the possum in NSW previously were bones – believed to be up to 200 years old – that were found in caves near the the recent detection site in Yarrangobilly. Fred Ford and Martin Shultz, researchers from the NSW Government ecosystems and threatened species team, caught the images during camera trap surveys for the endangered smoky mouse. The find was then confirmed by the Australian National University [ANU] and Healesville Sanctuary. Biodiversity Council member Prof David Lindenmayer from ANU has long suspected Leadbeater's possums could be living in Kosciuszko National Park, but at the time of his survey around Yarrangobilly 35 years ago, camera traps were hard to come across. 'How exciting it is to live in a country where new discoveries are being made!' he said. 'This discovery shows that just because a species has not been positively detected at a location, you cannot be confident that it is not there. Many of our most imperilled species are hard to detect. 'With so little high-quality habitat left in Australia, we should do our utmost to protect remaining areas; hopefully, there will be many more wonderful discoveries ahead, especially as detection techniques improve.' NSW Minister for the Environment Penny Sharpe labelled the discovery as 'extraordinary'. 'For ecologists to spot a needle in a haystack of millions of images speaks to their commitment to the conservation cause and demonstrates that NSW Government threatened species officers are doing some of the most incredible work. I congratulate them on this discovery,' she said. She added that it only highlights the importance of removing invasive species from the park. The biggest threat to native flora and fauna in Kosciuszko are brumbies, which have been the target of recent culling. Images from previous surveys in the region are now being reexamined for any further evidence of the possums. More camera are also being deployed across the park to learn more about the species. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
ABC News
21-05-2025
- Science
- ABC News
Wild horse populations plummet as Kosciuszko biodiversity recovers
Biodiversity in Kosciuszko National Park is healing as feral horse populations drop, according to the New South Wales Environment Minister. Supporters of the brumby are concerned population totals are so low they're threatening guaranteed minimum population levels. But ecologists say it's giving native species populations a better shot at survival.
News.com.au
21-05-2025
- Politics
- News.com.au
NSW brumby population plummets to 1500 in ‘turning point' for famed Snowy Mountains
The number of feral horses roaming NSW's Kosciuszko National Park could be as low as just 1500 as wildlife activists herald the success of controversial aerial culling. An October 2024 report found that between 1500 and 6000 brumbies likely remained in the park, down from a whopping 13,000 to 22,000 reported the previous year. The survey puts the state government well ahead of its legally mandated goal of reducing the population to 3000 by June 30, 2027. Invasive Species Council chief executive Jack Gough said the report was a 'turning point' and 'nature is responding' to the dramatic reduction in feral horses. 'Fewer hard-hoofed feral animals trampling the fragile alpine environment means more native species returning,' Mr Gough said. 'More delicate wetlands recovering and more hope for one of Australia's most vulnerable national parks. 'Now we need all sides of politics to come together to keep up this momentum for a wildlife revival by overturning the law which requires 3000 feral horses to remain trashing and trampling one third of the iconic Kosciuszko National Park.' Introduced by former NSW deputy premier John Barilaro, the so-called Brumby Bill – known properly as the Kosciuszko Wild Horse Heritage Act – recognised the 'heritage value' of wild horse populations within parts of the park and mandated numbers be reduced to just 3000. The Invasive Species Council, at the time, said the Bill 'turned Australia into a global laughing stock', and it was heavily criticised by academics and environmental activists groups who have long decried the harmful impacts of the invasive horses on the delicate alpine ecosystem. Independent Wagga Wagga MP Joe McGirr introduced a petition to repeal the Bill, which was signed by more than 11,000 people, to parliament earlier this month, with no MPs from Labor, Liberals or the Greens speaking against the petition, including Monaro MP Steve Wahn. 'Barilaro's brumby law has no friends in parliament, other than a few fringe voices in the upper house, and the next step must be for parliament to repeal this bad law once and for all,' Dr Gough said, having previously called on NSW Premier Chris Minns to repeal the Brumby Bill. The state government survey also comes after new photos were released by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service of recovery in the Kosciuszko National Park. Reclaim Kosci founder and Invasive Species Council Indigenous ambassador Richard Swain said feral horses 'trample our fragile landscapes, pollute our streams, and damage sacred Country'. 'Finally, the health of the soil, water and our native species in the Snowy Mountains is healing, but we need to fix the ridiculous law that still protects a feral animal over our native plants and animals,' she said. 'It's a national park, not a horse paddock. 'For the sake of the high country, it is past time that we put to bed the senseless arguments and accept the evidence that removing feral horses is the only way of protecting Country from this destruction.' ANU Fenner School of Environment and Society professor Jamie Pittock said the new images 'should be the catalyst – let's stop debating numbers and get on with the job of protecting the park'. 'Kosciuszko is home to threatened species like the northern corroboree frog, broad-toothed rat and critically endangered alpine she-oak skink – all of which suffer when feral horses degrade their habitat,' he said. 'Every delay puts this more at risk.' The state government survey used two independent scientific methods – both showing a significant drop off in numbers compared with previous years, albeit it with some variation between estimates. The Australian Brumby Alliance, which has have been vocally opposed to aerial culling of feral horses, are yet to respond to the report, which was released on Wednesday, but has been critical of population control. The organisation is supporting a parallel petition by NSW Animal Justice Party MP Emma Hurst that is calling on the state government to implement 'nonlethal solutions', namely rescue and rehoming of wild horses. An attempt to stop aerial culling of wild horses was dismissed by the NSW Supreme Court last year.
ABC News
20-05-2025
- Science
- ABC News
Kosciuszko wild horse numbers less than 6,000 triggering reproductive strategy
The NSW Environment Minister says she will turn to focus on managing current populations of feral horses in the Snowy Mountains after "large efforts" to reduce numbers in the past 18 months. The 2024 Kosciuszko National Park wild horse population survey, released publicly on Wednesday morning, has estimated between 1,766 and 5,717 horses are left in the park. The figures are "really reduced" compared to a 2023 survey estimate that around 17,000 horses remained in the park. The state government is legally required to reduce the number to 3,000 by mid-2027 to preserve the environment of Kosciuszko National Park (KNP). "We were hopeful that it would go well," Environment Minister Penny Sharpe said. "We've obviously reduced the number of horses in the park by a large number. The peer-reviewed survey, the fourth of its kind since 2020, this time tested multiple survey methods across four priority KNP management areas. "There's been a lot of interest in the way in which we count the horses and there's been a lot of conjecture about that," Ms Sharpe said. "For us [it's] about constantly refining and improving the way in which we can get as accurate a count as we can. "But also trying to compare year on year so that we're looking at the same method over a period of time." Its usual "standard distance sampling" method, which captures horse activity from two aerial observers attached to an aircraft, estimated from 1,766 to 4,050 horses remained in the park's retention zones. This time around another method called the "mark recapture distance sampling method" was also trialled. It added a third aerial observer at the front of the aircraft and estimated that the population in the same areas to lie between 2,373 and 5,717. A thermal imaging survey was also conducted but is still undergoing an extensive peer-review process. Ms Sharpe admitted it was difficult to get a single number best estimate of the population and hoped the range could be narrowed in coming years. "Trying to get an accurate number, particularly in the kind of terrain that is Kosciuszko National Park, is really challenging," she said. "I think we will always have a range and we'll keep going with that as we improve survey methods, particularly as the horses are mostly in the retention areas rather than spread out across the park." More than 9,000 horses were removed from the park between 2021 and April 30, 2025, with two-thirds of those killed by aerial shooting, a method adopted in October 2023. "But the large efforts … of the last 12 to 18 months is not going to be needed anymore because the numbers have come down." Aerial shooting is currently on pause and environment minister did not confirm when the method would recommence. She said the state government would now focus on stabilising the population that included looking into a reproductive control trial. "National Parks [and Wildlife Service] is beginning to be able to look at this, about how we would trial this and really start to test it," she said. "We're not there yet, but the preparatory work is being done on that and I'm pleased."
