THE SMALL mammals team at Cannon Hall Farm are celebrating after securing a new resident in the mammal house – a rare and threatened potoroo named Puffle.
Long-nosed potoroos are the much smaller cousins of animals such as wallabies and kangaroos and are sometimes described as ‘rat kangaroos’ because they are quite small with rat-like fur but have a sturdy tail and hop on kangaroo-like back legs.  

Unfortunately however, they are listed as ‘Near Threatened’ on the IUCN conservation red list.  

Head of Mammals Georgie Kaye said: “Sadly these amazing marsupials are on the decline in the wild, so they are part of a population management programme (an EEP) that aims to maintain healthy populations of healthy animals within zoos in order to conserve and protect species from extinction.  

“The animals on these programmes are so precious that a zoo must be specially signed off to house them, and we are very proud at Cannon Hall Farm to have been signed off to be a part of the conservation of this wonderful animal.

“Puffle is settling in very well. She is very brave and inquisitive and loves to follow us around the enclosure when we are cleaning and will take food out of our hands. She enjoys the company of our sugar gliders, who live above her, and we have also sourced a male who will be arriving to join her in the near future.  

“Any young that Puffle has (called joeys) are incredibly important for the conservation of this species and we very much look forward to welcoming those in the future.”