Australian Mammal of The Year: Vote for your favorite mammal in 2023!

Posted on 1 August, 2023 by Jess

Cosmos Magazine is hosting the annual Australian Mammal of the Year competition – where you can vote for your favorite mammal to become Australia’s mammal of the year 2023!

In the Mount Alexander area, our woodlands, forests, and even our farmlands are teaming with a number of special creatures. Cute short-beaked echidnas forage for ants, the small but mighty, Yellow-footed Antechinus forage for insects and birds. Eastern Grey Kangaroos and Swamp Wallabies hop about with joeys at foot. Above ground, Krefft’s Glider (formerly Sugar Gliders) glide between the trees.

Sugar Gliders in a Connecting Country nest box. Photo by Beth Mellick
Thirsty wallaby drinks from a bird bath. Photo by Jane Rusden
Echidna photographed at Strangways. Photo by Patrick Kavanagh
Yellow-footed antechinus in Muckleford. Photo by Lou Citroen
Koala. Photo by Patrick Kavanagh

To read an excellent short article on some of the mammals that occur in woodlands across Australia, written by none other than friend and supporter of Connecting Country, Prof. Andrew Bennett, click here.

A Brush-tailed Phascogale. Photo by Geoff Park

Here at Connecting Country, our flagship species for conservation is the Brush-tailed Phascogale. This cute little brushy-tailed carnivore is a threatened species. It has undergone a substantial range contraction and decline in numbers in recent years. Nonetheless, our forests are a ‘stronghold’ for this threatened species, and are important for its future conservation. We’re so proud of the hard work that our community has done to support and monitor this species through time, and we’re proud that our region supports this threatened species.

Kerrie didn’t find any phascogales in this nest box! (photo supplied by Kerrie Jennings)
Bev, Cate and Asha check a nest box in 2021 (photo by Ray Stevens)
Kerrie takes a break! Photo: supplied by Kerrie Jennings
Euan and Peter try to measure a large tree. Photo by Beth Mellick
Frances prepares to inspect a box in 2021 while volunteering to check nest boxes on her weekends (photo by Jess Lawton)
Volunteers monitor Connecting Country’s nest boxes (photo by Theo Mellick-Cooper)
Phascogale in a nest box. Photo by Jess Lawton
Sugar Glider in a nest box. Photo by Jess Lawton