Page 20 - Tropic Magazine Issue 223

TROPIC • ENVIRONMENT

Humbug the striped possum, credit: TARCAP
Saving Humbug Found alone on a Port Douglas main crickets. “Her favorite food was nectar,
from a variety of different rainforest
road, Humbug the striped possum was
WILDLIFE RESCUE just a few months old and weighing just species,” Ms Lynch said. “It’s important to
74 grams when she was taken into care provide them the same food that they will
A striped possum named at the CaPTA Group’s Tropical Animal find in the wild – although she did have a
Humbug features in a new Rehabilitation Centre (TARC). She had soft spot for pawpaw! I used to be out in
Tropic series which applauds fur but was too young to be on her own. the back garden digging up termites and
Wildlife Manager Rabecca Lynch was
other insects every day and would take
efforts to rehabilitate sick and her primary caretaker and also gave trips to find flowers and fruit that would
injured tropical animals. the marsupial her name. “I named her make up part of her natural diet.”
Humbug because of the boiled lolly with After several months, Humbug reached
Words: Renee Cluff
the same name,” Ms Lynch told Tropic. her goal weight of 320 grams and was
“She had black and white stripes and ate released back into the wild at a private
bugs! The best thing about her was her site in the Upper Daintree, where a male
strong musk smell, which is unique to the striped possum was released just six
species.” months earlier.
Initially, Humbug was fed marsupial
formula with some supplements, but she
quickly moved on to meal worm guts and MORE: wildlifehabitat.com.au/tarc

STRIPED POSSUMS Found in Far North Adults are generally
4 FUN FACTS Queensland and solitary and make
Papua New Guinea nests high in trees

Rarely seen as they Have specially adapted
are nocturnal but elongated fingers to
can live in pull insect larvae out
populated areas of crevasses

20 • Tropic • Issue 23