Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/989345
Zoo News m em b er maga zin e 11 No. 02 VoLU M E 38 | J U N E 20 18 THANK YOU zOO mEmbErS Without your support, we could not be involved with such critical recovery programs such as the development of the tunnel of love at Mt Hotham. Your membership supports the survival of the tiny Mountain Pygmy-possum and it feels good too to know you're supporting love! Thanks, Members! YOU NEVEr KNEW AbOUT THE mOUNTAIN pYgmY-pOSSUm Mountain Pygmy-possums are only found above 1,200m and live in deep extensive boulder fields. They are Australia's only hibernating marsupial, going to sleep in the snow for up to seven months of the year. Females are pregnant for just 13 days before they give birth to a litter of up to four joeys – one of the shortest gestation periods of any marsupial. In the wild, females can live for up to 12 years and males to five years, however the majority now only live for around one to three years due to habitat loss, predation and inbreeding. Healesville Sanctuary currently holds a breeding population of around 45 Mountain Pygmy-possums. long distance relationships can be tough. But they're even harder when there's fewer than 2,000 of your species left and you only weigh 45g. For the Mountain Pygmy-possum, things recently became a whole lot easier with the arrival of a new 'Tunnel of Love' that reconnects the males and females with each other. Two separate groups of critically endangered Mountain Pygmy-possums currently live at Mt Hotham but are separated by the Great Alpine Road that was making it difficult for them to reach each other. It was difficult for the males, who live lower down the slope, to climb up and reach the females at critical breeding times. "This project was about making it easier and safer for the males to travel and breed with the females, by linking their habitats," Zoos Victoria Reproductive Biologist Dr Marissa Parrott says. Apart from the dangers associated with crossing a busy road, the male possums were also at risk of predation by feral foxes and cats when trying to reach the females. The Tunnel of Love has a concrete outer and is filled with small boulders to create a rocky field for the possums to safely zip up and down. Given Mountain Pygmy-possums travel by going through boulder fields, it was important to make sure these tiny marsupials had the opportunity to remain protected under rocks rather than have to travel on top of the ground at the mercy of predators. "There was another tunnel built in the late 80s but it originally had issues with foxes as there weren't any boulders in it so the possums were exposed," Dr Parrott says. "They added boulders so the possums could go through the rocky field which protected them." The Tunnel of Love was built by Mt Hotham Alpine Resort Management Board in partnership with the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) and Zoos Victoria. This project was about making it easier and safer for the males to travel and breed with the females, by linking their habitats. 5 2 3 4 5 1 THINgS