The Long-footed Potoroo

Potorus longipes

In 1967, an East Gippsland dog-trapper found a strange little mammal in one of his snares near Brown Mountain. The creature was transferred to Melbourne, but sadly didn’t make the trip.

Zoologists recognised it as a potoroo - but knew it wasn’t the Long-nosed potoroo they’d met before.

The Long-footed Potoroo, a resident of Brown Mountain, is Victoria’s rarest marsupial. Photo: Max Herford

The following year, a National Parks Officer collected a creature killed on the road near Bellbird in East Gippsland. But another decade passed before two live individuals were trapped and studied.

They were found to be a new species, and dubbed Long-footed Potoroos. Since then, the Long-footed potoroo has been recorded at about 40 sites in East Gippsland.

Unfortunately, potoroos and the logging industry are keen on the same type of forest – thick, lush old-growth.

Potoroos have a preference for these wetter forests because they enjoy food that requires moist conditions: their diet consists of a variety of fungi. In fact, these little gastronomes are so keen on the finer fungi in life that when setting cameras, zoologists use truffle oil to attract them.

The Long-footed potoroo’s diet plays an important role in the ecology of these forests; the fungi spores pass through the potoroo's digestive system and are deposited in the forest in its droppings.

Habitat loss from forest fragmentation and road building for logging operations, combined with predations by introduced feral animals like foxes and dogs, mean that this species is listed as Endangered in Australia.

To find out more about the Long-footed Potoroo's habitat, and learn how you can get involved, please visit www.eastgippsland.net.au

Take action! 

Write to Premier Brumby, demanding he protect all old-growth forests in Victoria. Premier John Brumby,  1 Treasury Place, Melbourne Victoria 3002

Further reading

Lack of leadership breaks election promise to protect Victoria’s old-growth forests
The Wilderness Society expressed dismay at how the state government has not delivered on its 2006 state election promise to protect old-growth forests. After years of negotiation, the state government has capitulated to the logging industry over the interests of the public. More >>

Supreme Court orders logging halt at Brown Mountain
In an historic win for the Victorian forest campaign, the Supreme Court has ordered a logging halt in Brown Mountain's old-growth forests in East Gippsland. More >>

Old-growth trees logged at Brown Mountain over 500 years old
The Brumby government's 2006 policy to protect old-growth forests in East Gippsland has been put to shame by VicForests who has been caught out logging trees over 500 years old. More >>