Following Australia’s devastating bushfires six months ago, the critically-endangered smoky mouse has been feared extinct by conservationists as more than 90 percent of the rodent’s habitat had been scorched. To their relief though, recent images from motion-sensor cameras prove otherwise.
The 50g rodent has been discovered alive and well in the Kosciuszko national park after it was feared the native species had been wiped from the area during the summer bushfire crisis. Motion-sensor cameras set up over the last five weeks to monitor wildlife have recorded images of the mouse at seven burnt-out sites in southern New South Wales.
“After such a confronting and challenging start to the year, it was a very happy moment to know a native animal already threatened with extinction has survived,” said NSW environment minister Matt Kean.
