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Common Brushtail Possum

Mammals

The common brushtail possum is a nocturnal, semi-arboreal marsupial native to Australia and the second-largest of the Australasian possums, feeding mainly on eucalyptus leaves and other foliage but occasionally on small mammals such as rats. It is the marsupial city dwellers in Australia see most often, thriving in a wide range of natural and human-altered habitats and readily raiding fruit trees, vegetable gardens and kitchens around human homes. Introduced to New Zealand in the 1850s to found a fur industry, it found few natural predators in the country's mild subtropical climate and has since become a major agricultural and conservation pest there.

Facts
Classification
Diet
Herbivore 1
System (Realm)
Terrestrial 2
Relationship to People
Invasive or Introduced Species 3
Living or Extinct
Yes 4
Derived from this species' own Conservation Status: this atlas's IUCN category list has no Extinct value, so a set conservation-status is itself evidence of living status (w-bfill-g5-0924 browse backfill).
Scientific Name
Trichosurus vulpecula 2
Conservation Status
Least Concern 2
Population Estimate
30,000,000 2
New Zealand introduced (invasive) population only, not a global figure; current estimate is down from a 1980s peak of 60-70 million after decades of control measures, per the cited Wikipedia article.
Connections

Child Taxon Of

Diprotodontia, Taxa
Source Catalogue of Life
In the Other Atlases
  • Also in Geography Atlas: Australia, found in there.
  • Also in Geography Atlas: Czechia, found in there.
  • Also in Geography Atlas: New Zealand, found in there.
  • Also in Geography Atlas: Norway, found in there.
Sources
1. EltonTraits 1.0 (Wilman et al. 2014)
2. Common Brushtail Possum (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia
  • Taxobox, binomial name
    Trichosurus vulpecula
  • Infobox, conservation status
    Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
  • New Zealand subsection, Relationship with humans
    By the 1980s, the peak population had reached an estimated 60-70 million, but is now down to an estimated 30 million due to control measures.
  • semiarboreal marsupial native to Australia
View the Source
3. Wikipedia: Common brushtail possum
human-interaction (MediaWiki batch-API article extract states it plainly)
Quote, human-interaction (MediaWiki batch-API article extract states it plainly)
The common brushtail possum was introduced to New Zealand in the 1850s to establish a fur industry, but in the mild subtropical climate of New Zealand, and with few to no natural predators, it thrived to the extent that it became a major agricultural and conservation pest.
View the Source
4. GBIF Species API
GBIF Species APIView the Source
Wikidata: Common Brushtail Possum
Wikidata Q732477, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source
Catalogue of Life
Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of LifeChild Taxon Of: DiprotodontiaView the Source
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