Possum Popin' Out

Green ringtail possum joey takes shelter under mom

Photographer Kerem Kanadikirik (who goes by the handle loke.it) captured a sweet moment, a mother green ringtail possum perched on a tree, sheltering her baby. These arboreal marsupials are found only in one small place on Earth: the tropical rainforest of north-eastern Queensland, Australia. They are listed as “vulnerable” on the IUCN Red List, with threats from habitat loss and fragmentation. Typically a bit too plump to hide in tree hollows, their olive-green fur is an adaptation that helps them camouflage in the tree canopy, rolling themselves into a tight ball during the day and tucking their tail, face and feet into their belly. Rarely coming to the ground, they’ll mostly spend their time in the canopy, munching on leaves, fruits, flowers and bark during nocturnal foraging, relying on their prehensile tail and syndactylous feet [paws that are partially webbed with opposable digits] for gripping branches. While it prefers fig tree leaves, the green ringtail possum is one of the few non-insects that can eat the leaves of the stinger plant (Dendrocnide moroides), which can cause extremely painful skin irritation for up to two years (!!) and require hospitalization for humans that come into physical contact with it.

Gif sourced from here. You can find more of loke.it’s work his TikTok channel or by clicking through the source video on Instagram.

Wikipedia: Green ringtail possum

Animal Diversity Web: Pseudochirops archeri, green ringtail possum

Wildlife Mountain Australia: Green Ringtail Possum