Surveys for leadbeater’s possum gymnobelideus leadbeateri at wallaby creek, kinglake national park, Victoria

Extensive camera trapping surveys were conducted for Leadbeater’s Possum Gymnobelideus leadbeateri, in Mountain Ash Eucalyptus regnans forest in the Wallaby Creek catchment, Kinglake National Park, Victoria, 22 km west of the species’ known range. The habitat surveyed is dominated by dense stands of Mountain Ash regenerating from the Black Saturday bushfires in 2009. There is also extensive Silver Wattle Acacia dealbata regeneration and abundant mature, fire-killed eucalypts that provide a source of hollows. Across two survey rounds, 95 camera traps were deployed across 44 sites for survey periods of 6-9 weeks. Leadbeater’s Possum was not detected at Wallaby Creek, and is considered to be absent from this locality. Seven other species of arboreal/scansorial mammal were detected during the camera trapping surveys.