Playing possum

by Shane Sody

Meet Tara McKenzie and her friends. Tara is a University of Adelaide researcher, studying Brushtail possums both in the Riverland, and in your Adelaide Park Lands.

Her research includes an internship with the Adelaide Park Lands Association where her main role is to collect information about the plant and animal species that are found across your Park Lands, with a focus on those that have an important role in possum habitats.

One of the Brushtail possums Tara McKenzie found in your Carriageway Park / Tuthangga (Park 17)

Here's her first report:

“I have spent my evenings and early mornings putting traps out across Park 17 and my efforts paid off!

“We were able to trap, collar and tag the two possums (adult male and female, both active breeders) we needed for that Park and found a few more while out spotlighting as well.

“This is a really good start for us as it usually takes us a lot longer to get animals used to the traps and even just from these few animals we have made some really interesting observations about the Park Lands [possum] populations. The main things we've seen so far:

  • “The Park Lands possums are similar in body size to those I've been studying in the Riverland, but they are lower in weight which means they have a lower body condition.

  • “There seems to be a high prevalence of non-fatal attack from predators with many of the possums having healed wounds or evidence of previous trauma.

  • “The behaviour of the Park Lands possums is very different to those in the Riverland. They are far more fearful and all seem to default with a "freeze" response to an unknown situation. There is a range of things that could be causing this, including chronic stress, which is actually the focus of another PhD project that is just starting up, so it will be so interesting to explore this further.”

After trapping, tagging and releasing in Park 17, Tara has now switched her focus to Denise Norton Park / Pardipardinyilla (Park 2).

That’s the Park where the State Government proposes to destroy possum habitat by removing dozens of century-old trees to make way for a new Aquatic Centre.

457 trees in the construction zone, each one rated by Government-appointed arborists on its “environmental and/or aesthetic contribution to the area”