Suburban attitudes towards the common brushtail possum Trichosurus vulpecula and the common ringtail possum Pseudocheirus peregrinus in the northern suburbs of Sydney

摘要

Community based urban wildlife surveys are a two way exchange of information. They allow the researcher to gain information on urban wildlife living, or travelling through, private property that would normally remain inaccessible, whilst simultaneously informing the participants of current research and conservation initiatives. In Sydney's northern suburbs, 600 residences were surveyed on their attitudes to urban possums, with a return rate of 33 %. The majority of respondents were accepting of these animals on their properties and showed an enthusiasm to learn more on living peaceably with possums. A minority were found to have a high level of conflict with these animals. The relatively high proportion of respondents who admitted to removing possums from their properties (20 % of respondents), shows the extent to which human - possum interactions reach a point where peaceable coexistence is no longer possible. Despite this, when informed of a conservation initiative in the area to mitigate possum road-kill, significantly more respondents were willing to support the project than not.