A brushtail possum once locally extinct in a remote pocket of Western Australia has now branched out into new territory.
For more than 80 years, brushtail possums were gone from an area of WA's northern wheatbelt until conservationists reintroduced 49 of the marsupials to the Mt Gibson Wildlife Sanctuary in 2021.
One of the possums was snapped by motion sensor cameras 40km away in the neighbouring Charles Darwin Reserve, which is connected by a wildlife corridor managed by Bush Heritage Australia.
The Australian Wildlife Conservancy's Joey Clarke said the aim of the project at Mount Gibson, about 300km northeast of Perth, was to reintroduce more locally extinct mammals.
"We hope that they will be able to establish a viable population in this wildlife corridor between Gibson and other protected areas," Mr Clarke told AAP.
"The message from this work is that we don't have to accept that wildlife will go extinct.
"It's not inevitable, we've got the tools and we've got the understanding of what is required to stop animals going extinct."
The common brushtail possum is native to Australia and known to adapt well to urban environments.
But in the last century, the marsupial has become extinct and disappeared in arid and dry areas across the country.
''Ultimately, we want to see big healthy populations of all these mammals back in the bush where they belong’’, Mr Clarke said.
The possum's safe journey demonstrates the importance of conservation groups collaborating to restore interconnected habitat.
As well as reintroducing brushtail possums, Mr Clarke said they are keen to see a rediscovery of bilbies and other marsupials.
''This is a really hopeful and positive story'', he said.
''We often hear lots of bad stories when it comes to nature and conservation, this definitely sends us some hope."
The Australian Wildlife Conservancy and Bush Heritage Australia are both non-government organisations, relying primarily on donations to continue their work.
Bush Heritage Australia senior ecologist Michelle Hall said the landscape across millions of hectares at the connecting corridors is thriving, and offers suitable habitats for native species.
"Hopefully this possum will find a tree hollow in the woodlands to escape ground-based predators," she said.
