Bettongia gaimardi cuniculus (Tasmanian Bettong)

IUCN Status: Near Threatened

The IUCN page for Tasmanian Bettong lists the reason for the “near threatened” status assessment in 2008 as being due to the “recent introduction of the Red Fox”. That’s not surprising because the Red fox is considered the main culprit for the extinction of the other bettong subspecies (Bettongia gaimardi gaimardi) on the mainland.

The fox problem in Tasmania was a huge deal…. a few years ago. I couldn’t recall hearing about it recently so I want digging and what I found blew my mind. It’s a story with layers like an onion, and is way too big to tell here, so I’ll do a blog entry and link it here.

In the meantime, enjoy looking at this cute guy and sleep a bit easier. A lot has changed in eight years. In fact they’ve even been reintroduced to the mainland and are apparently doing well.