Red-tailed Phascogale
Phascogale calura
Australia's Threatened Species Category
Vulnerable
Listed since: 7/12/2016
IUCN's Threatened Species Category
Near Threatened
Listed since: 21/09/2014
Population trend: Stable
Other names: Red-tailed Wambenger, Kenngoor
Priority Species? No
The Australian government's Threatened Species Action Plan 2022-2032 selected over 100 priority species derive from consultation with threatened species experts and the wider community. While all species are important, focusing on a limited number of species can help target effort and resources so that outcomes can be achieved, measured and shared.
Description
The Red-tailed Phascogale is a small, arboreal, carnivorous marsupial and is found in remnant vegetation in the southern wheatbelt of Western Australia. The Red-tailed Phascogale is largely confined to woodlands with old-growth hollow-producing eucalypts. The species in mainly nocturnal and can leap across gaps of up to 2 metres in the canopy, but they also feed extensively on the ground. It is an opportunistic feeder, and eats a wide range of insects and spiders as well as small birds and mammals.
Threats
There are a number of severe threats to the survival of this species including predation by feral cats, habitat loss and fragmentation, climate change and frequent, intense fires.