Call for photos for new possum monitoring app

Tuesday, 23 April 2019

Many of Australia’s possums and gliders are under threat. Good information about where different species are greatly assists conservation programs. Members of the public can play a valuable role in helping to collect this information in their own backyards, and surrounding parks and natural areas.

To help people share sightings of possums and gliders we are adding a section on possums and gliders to the free CAUL Urban Wildlife App. The app will also include photos and other information to help people correctly identify the different species. The app will be free to download from the Apple App Store and Google Play in June 2019!

Who is involved?

The project is a collaboration between the Threatened Species Recovery Hub (TSR Hub) and the Clean Air and Urban Landscapes Hub (CAUL Hub) of the Australian Government’s National Environmental Science Program. The project leader is Dr Rochelle Steven from the University of Queensland.

How can you help?

To create the app we need images of different possum and glider species in their natural environments. The photos need to be zoomed in enough to clearly show the animal and ideally also distinguishing features like tails. Additionally photos need to be landscape and at least 300 dpi; even higher resolution is better. See the example photos below.

We are looking for photos of these species. If you have one that you think is suitable we would love to hear from you.

Common name	Scientific name
Mountain Pygmy-possum	Burramys parvus
Long-tailed Pygmy-possum	Cercartetus caudatus
Little Pygmy-possum	Cercartetus lepidus
Western Pygmy-possum	Cercartetus concinnus
Eastern Pygmy-possum	Cercartetus nanus
Striped Possum	Dactylopsila trivirgata
Leadbeater's Possum	Gymnobelideus leadbeateri
Yellow-bellied Glider	Petaurus australis
Sugar Glider	Petaurus breviceps
Mahogany Glider	Petaurus gracilis
Squirrel Glider	Petaurus norfolcensis
Lemuroid Ringtail Possum	Hemibelideus lemuroides
Greater Glider	Petauroides volans
Rock Ringtail Possum	Petropseudes dahli
Green Ringtail Possum	Pseudochirops archeri
Daintree River Ringtail Possum	Pseudochirulus cinereus
Herbert River Ringtail Possum	Pseudochirulus herbertensis
Western Ringtail Possum	Pseudocheirus occidentalis
Common Ringtail Possum	Pseudocheirus peregrinus
Honey Possum	Tarsipes rostratus
Feathertail Glider	Acrobates pygmaeus
Common Spotted Cuscus	Spilocuscus maculatus
Southern Common Cuscus	Phalanger mimicus
Short-eared Possum	Trichosurus caninus
Mountain Brushtail Possum	Trichosurus cunninghami
Common Brushtail Possum	Trichosurus vulpecula
Scaly-tailed Possum	Wyulda squamicaudata

Sending in your photos

Please forward your images to Dr Rochelle Steven (r.steven@uq.edu.au). Please supply the highest resolution you have available. If you have multiple images to share, please contact Rochelle to discuss options of how best to share these.

Include the following information:

photographer name
location photo was taken
date photo was taken (if known)
what species you think it is (if known)

Please also confirm that you give consent to the University of Queensland, TSR Hub and CAUL Hub to use your photo in the Urban Wildlife App and in materials used to promote the app.

Top image: Southern Common Cuscus. Photo: C.N. Zdenek & A.J. Burnett CC BY-SA4.0 Wikimedia Commons