Trichosurus vulpecula

Common Brushtail Possum at Rendezvous Creek, ACT

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Identification history

	Trichosurus vulpecula	13 Oct 2019	DonFletcher
	Phascolarctos cinereus	12 Oct 2019	Martyadams

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User's notes

Hey, I was asked to post these pics by a ranger at the namadji visitors centre. I was out for a ride on the old boboyan rd and found what I thought might be sign of a koala. There was lots of poo on the fire trail under the tree and the tree trunk had the claw marks and scratches right up. Maybe just a possum but I thought the marks on the trunk were pretty deep. Any koala experts on here that may be able to confirm?? Cheers Marty

4 comments

DonFletcher wrote:

13 Oct 2019

Great observation Marty. I see what you mean. These scats, even the fat one in front, seem part way between koala and BTP. However it is so long since I have seen koala scats that I should be careful. Are there any more photos of the scats? Were the other scats like the fat one in the front or more like the others? I will send your photos to someone who is doing a koala survey now.

DonFletcher wrote:

13 Oct 2019

HI again Marty. My expert friend says "The scratches aren't the characteristic shape or depth of Koala, and the large number also suggest a possum (which tend to run up and down trees frequently rather than climbing up and staying put for extended periods). The scats look like possum, Koala are thicker and don't have the little narrow ends like these." so I have confirmed it as BTP, sorry.

Martyadams wrote:

14 Oct 2019

Hi Don
Thanks for looking into that for me, would have been good to have been a Koala but wasn't to be.
The bloke at the visitor centre mentioned that the last sightings of Koala out there were in the early 90's.
Cheers Marty

DonFletcher wrote:

14 Oct 2019

There was a later sighting than that - a roadkill at Glendale. But very sparse after the tracking stations closed, then nothing after 2003

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Location information

Sighting information

1 - 3 Abundance
12 Oct 2019 10:30 AM Recorded on
Martyadams Recorded by

Species information

Trichosurus vulpecula Scientific name
Common Brushtail Possum Common name
Not Sensitive
Local native
Non-Invasive
Up to 1245.5m Recorded at altitude
286 images trained Machine learning