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.