Scientists fear the white lemuroid possum, found in the cloud forests of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area in far north Queensland, could soon become extinct due to climate change.
The white possum was nearly wiped out by a heatwave in 2005, and can die in temperatures above 29 degrees as it has not evolved mechanisms to cool its body down.
The Wet Tropics World Heritage region covers only a tenth of one per cent of Australia’s land mass, yet contains 50 per cent of the nation’s species.