Little marsupial is now thriving in a remote desert safe haven

June 1, 2024 6:42 AM

Once extinct in central Australia, this little kangaroo-looking marsupial is now thriving in a remote desert safe haven. The number of brush-tailed bettongs and burrowing bettongs surveyed at Newhaven Wildlife Sanctuary in central Australia has nearly doubled since last year.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries (8 comments total)

squee
posted by HearHere at 6:47 AM on June 1 [1 favorite]

Wonderful work being done. Long live the bettongs!

Thanks for posting. :-)
posted by Don.Kinsayder at 6:58 AM on June 1

squee²

it's so cute and tiny!! these posts are really doing some serious PR for the Australian wildlife lobby!
posted by supermedusa at 8:30 AM on June 1 [2 favorites]

Make sure to stick around for the amazing leap at the end!
posted by donio at 10:07 AM on June 1 [3 favorites]

"A trap and a bait, made of peanut butter, sardines and rolled oats"

Well, I mean, who among us could resist
posted by praemunire at 10:09 AM on June 1 [3 favorites]

praemunire, researchers used to trap Australian pygmy possums (the ones that live in snowy mountains) with bait made of peanut butter and chocolate, but the possums liked it so much that they got trap-happy, and the researchers were catching the exact same possums 4 days in a row, so they had to switch to a less-tasty bait made with oats.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 10:21 AM on June 1 [6 favorites]

→ Make sure to stick around for the amazing leap at the end!

Whoah! That's quite the sproing!
posted by scruss at 12:30 PM on June 1

so they had to switch to a less-tasty bait made with oats.

*chef's kiss*
posted by praemunire at 1:33 PM on June 1