Mammals

Mammal – Marsupial, Family Potoroidae
This small kangaroo has a distinctly long nose, in contrast to its cousin the Broad-faced Potoroo. With dark brown to grey fur, they stand about 20cm tall and tend to have a 4-legged pottering motion, but when startled, hop like other kangaroos. The name Potoroo is similar to that used by the aborigines, but some say it may actually reflect it was a conveniently sized “pot-of-roo” for the early settlers.

Conservation Status:
The federal conservation status listing for Long-nosed Potoroos is “Vulnerable”, and in Victoria it is listed as “Threatened”. Six regional populations now remain in southern parts of Victoria. In SA, potoroos were last sighted in the wild in the 1880s, until 2002, when they were rediscovered on the SA side of the Glenelg Forest. Predation by cats and foxes, habitat clearance and inappropriate fire regimes are the main threats to its survival. 39 Long-nosed Potoroos made the trip from Warrawong to Mt Rothwell between March and August 2002.

Habitat, Diet & Breeding:
Long-nosed Potoroos utilise a wide variety of habitats from wet forest to dry scrub, preferably where there is dense understorey. At Mt Rothwell, the potoroos are most often seen where there is established Hedge Wattle (Acacia paradoxa) or Bracken Fern. Being an omnivorous forager, potoroos eat many types of roots, tubers, fruits, seeds, insects and larvae, all depending on seasonal availability. Studies have shown that fungi form a major part of their diet, eating over 50 different kinds of sporocarps - the fruits of underground fungi like truffles. These fungi live in association with the roots of various Eucalypts and Acacias, helping the trees to absorb more water and nutrients, and are sometimes essential for seedling survival. Potoroos therefore improve the health of the forest by helping to disperse a host of beneficial fungi spores as they move about.
Potoroos are normally solitary, but not territorial, with males occupying a fairly stable home range of 2ha and females around 1.5ha.  There is usually a high degree of overlap in ranges, with regular sightings of males following females or females with a joey at foot. Breeding occurs all year round, with peaks in late winter to early spring and again in summer. After a gestation period of 38 days, a single young is born where it suckles from one of four teats in the pouch for 120-130 days. Before being weaned at 170 days, the young continues to suckle while at foot. Sexual maturity is reached at one year and females’ reproductive potential is 2.5 young per year. Potoroos are remarkably long-lived for their size, living on average 5-7 years in the wild and up to 12 years in captivity.

Interesting Facts:
Potoroos are from an ancient branch in the evolution of kangaroos and represent a living fossil, having remained relatively unchanged for around 10 million years. All the larger kangaroos evolved from a common ancestor much like the potoroo. The fossil record indicates potoroos were much more common when Australia was covered by a dense temperate rainforest, as being small made it easier to move about. As Australia drifted north over the ages and the climate became drier, the vegetation changed and became more open. Larger kangaroos were then favoured as they could exploit more of the resources, more quickly. Thankfully, the potoroos still occupy an important niche in the environment. As part of a contingent of herbivorous marsupials, they act as nature’s fire fighters by keeping the undergrowth down via grazing and turning the leaf litter over. Their foraging also aids the detritus cycle, the formation of soil, and dispersal of beneficial soil microbes.