17/12/2022
Reconnecting Routes: an underpass project.
From the largest possum to one of the smallest - a long-tailed pygmy possum crosses beneath a busy highway.
After construction of these underpasses, ecologists, road engineers and the tablelands conservation community united to design furniture to line the tunnels. These included rocks and logs on the ground, and dead trees strung with rope for arboreal species to travel along, allowing them to cross without the potential threats of the ground.
When roads isolate populations and fragment the landscape, there is a risk of local extinction and inbreeding. These fauna crossings allow individuals to travel across South Endeavour Trust reserves on both sides of the highway. The corridor gives individuals access to new foraging sites, diversity of mates, and young animals the ability to disperse across the rainforest.
Pygmy possums were a significant target species for this project. I knew they had been recorded on South Endeavour camera traps, and after some false alarms which turned out to be prehensile-tailed rats (another very cool species utilising the passageways) I finally captured this adorable species.
