‘Notoriously’ elusive mammal seen in Australia after yearslong search. ‘Euphoric’
On an otherwise-mundane night in eastern Australia, a “long-nosed” mammal emerged from its hiding place and hopped through the bush. A nearby trail camera managed to capture the “notoriously” elusive animal’s quick appearance.
The photos left ecologists feeling “euphoric.”
Researchers with the Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) were reviewing trail camera footage from the Waulinbakh Wildlife Sanctuary when something caught their attention. At the edge of a few photos taken in late June was an “extremely difficult to detect” animal: the long-nosed potoroo, Andy Howe, a senior ecologist with the organization, told McClatchy News via email.
Long-nosed potoroos are roughly rabbit-sized marsupials with “long and tapering” noses, according to the Australian Museum. They are generally “solitary” and live in “highly-fragmented populations along the east coast of Australia.”
Ecologists had been searching for long-nosed potoroos at another AWC wildlife sanctuary for four years “without luck,” the organization said in a Feb. 8 Facebook post.
“Long-nosed Potoroo are notoriously difficult to detect in areas where they are at low densities,” Howe told McClatchy News in the Feb. 10 email. “To make things more difficult, they are nocturnal and hide in grass nests during the day,” making them “basically impossible to see while wandering around in the bush.”
The recent long-nosed potoroo sighting was “the first time this species has been detected on an AWC sanctuary,” the organization said.
Howe described feeling “euphoric,” saying “there may have been a few fist pumps going on.”
“I’m sure this species occurs at other locations on the property, but they are very shy to coming into getting their photos taken,” Howe said. Even in the June sighting, “they were not willing to hang around in front of the camera.”
“The Long-nosed Potoroo is one (of) many species that was severely impacted by the 2019-20 black summer bushfires, with large areas of their habitat burnt to the ground,” Howe said. “This has placed even more pressure on this species.”
Ecologists hope to see more long-nosed potoroos in future trail camera surveys.
Waulinbakh Wildlife Sanctuary is a roughly 140-mile drive northeast of Sydney and home to dozens of threatened species.
This story was originally published February 11, 2025 at 1:20 PM with the headline "‘Notoriously’ elusive mammal seen in Australia after yearslong search. ‘Euphoric’."
