Numbats
Western Ringtail Possum
Forest Red-tailed Black Cockatoo
Baudin's Cockatoo
Carnaby's Cockatoo
Honey & Beekeeping
(Pseudocheirus occidentalis)
The following information is taken from Beckerling, 2015, Ticked off: How karri forest logging threatens wildlife and the FSC Standard.
Please see the paper for the references and further information.
Western Ringtail Possums live only in the south-west of WA in three key zones: the Swan Coastal Plain, Southern Forest and South Coast zones.
Key 'management zones' for Western Ringtail Possums.
Reproduced from DPAW Draft Recovery Plan for Western Ringtail Possums 2014
Federal (Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999): Critically Endangered (upgraded May 2018)
State (Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 WA): Critically Endangered
Action Plan for Australian Mammals 2012: Critically Endangered
Impacts of logging on Western Ringtail Possum
Logging has a severe impact on Western Ringtails. Individuals die during the logging operations and the increased predation by foxes and cats following logging, as well as the post-logging fire, cause further deaths (Wayne et al. 2000; 2006; Burrows et al.1993; 2002).
An experimental study in Kingston forest near Manjimup in 1997 found that within two weeks of the logging only 31 per cent of the radio collared animals were alive compared with 80 per cent of the control animals. Up to 17.6 per cent of the possums died when the trees they were in were felled (Wayne et al. 2000). Further studies have found that the declines continue over the years following logging and that the loss of canopy continuity means that the possums are forced to travel and den on or near to the ground where they are more vulnerable to fox and cat predation (Wayne et al. 2006).
The Action Plan for Australian Mammals (2014) lists logging as a threat and references the Wayne et al. 2006 study which found that the species is more abundant in unlogged forests and forests where logging has been least intense. It also reiterates that logging leads to mortality through increased predation. Cat predation, which is known to increase following logging, is listed as a severe-catastrophic threat (Burbidge 2014, p543).
The loss of refuge and nesting sites, loss of canopy cover, increased predation and post-logging fire interact to have profound impacts on this species.
Image credit: Western Ringtail Possum, adult carrying young. (Courtesy of Alison Cassanet)
Your donation supports our programs. Click to find out more...
STAND WITH THE FORESTS FOR LIFE
DO YOU KNOW THAT
Any habitat where western ringtail possums occur naturally are considered critical and worthy of protection
Food, Wine, and Forests
Message of Support
forestsforlife
convener@waforestalliance.org
@2016 WA Forests Alliance | Website by First Nature Design
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of this land and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.
We acknowledge that this land was and always will be Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander land.