Scientists look to past to save possum's future Mountain pygmy possums in danger Dr Linda Broom places Elliot traps to establish numbers and movement of the Mountain Pygmy Possum, one of Australia's most threatened species, in Kosciusko National Park. Endangered species experts plan to save the mountain pygmy possum from becoming the continent's first climate-change victim. A rapidly warming globe has contracted the Snowy Mountains' blanket of winter snow that serves as a possum refuge from freezing temperatures when it hibernates for six months. "It's possible that just a couple of years of no snow could wipe out the possums left in the wild," says the University of NSW naturalist and paleontologist Mike Archer. A tiny radio tracking collar. Estimates suggest there are just 2600 possums living in three distinct genetic populations throughout Kosciuszko National Park and alpine regions of Victoria. In an attempt to save the species, Professor Archer and Linda Broome, from the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, want to establish a breeding population away from the species' present habitat, in an environment where its ancestors once thrived. Evidence from fossil deposits reveals the ancient relatives of the possum, including one that lived 25 million years ago, occupied vast areas of low-lying, temperate rainforest. Placing traps for moths, a favourite food for the mountain pygmy possum. "We think it probably followed the rainforest up the mountains in previous warmer conditions and got stranded on top of the mountains in rock piles," Professor Archer said. The research of Dr Broome and Professor Archer's PhD student, Hayley Bates, confirmed the species can cope in other environments. While snow was vital for populations living close to the mountain peaks, it was less important for a new population of possums that were discovered living on the edge of the snow line in 2010, Ms Bates said. The team plans to establish a colony of possums at the Secret Creek Sanctuary near Lithgow. When they raise enough money and get government approval, the sanctuary's owner, Trevor Evans, will build a rock wall that mimics the boulder fields and keeps the temperature about 4 degrees during winter. "We need to know if there are a few bad years we can breed them up quickly," says Dr Broome, who has studied the species for 27 years.