"Leena" The Mountain brushtail joey

9 th.July 2005

Mountain Brushtail possums are one of the biggest possums found in Australia, however you would have trouble identifying something this small as being such a possum. Leena as she was named by the carer that initially raised her was only 77 gram when found alone outside a house calling loudly for her Mum. Her eyes were not yet open, and she had no fur. She was kept in a humidicrib for quite some time, fed at 2 hour intervals, it is intensive care raising such a young animal.

I recieved Leena when she was ready to live in an aviary outside, it is so important to get possums out early, mistakes can easily be made by keeping them inside, they become too humanised, and it is impossible for them to survive in the wild. How sad it would be to raise an animal such as this, only to find at release time, it could not cope, did not know how to find food, and was reliant on human company.

Leena will be in care for just over 12 months before she will be ready for release.

Leena is now living with another two Mountain brushtail's, a male and another female. The three of them are becoming independent of human company, needing only each other this is indeed the way to raise these animals if at all possible. Some animals are transferred to other carers when the opportunity arises as in this case, to rear animals together. They ultimately do so much better in care and also at release, if they do not have to rely on human company for emotional support.