We love mascots, especially the ones in Japan that represent towns, stores, regions even products!
At The Boroughs we've always wanted a special mascot that reflects our values, so we decided that a Leadbeater's Possum, the faunal emblem of our state of Victoria.
We commissioned illustrator and animal lover, Candy Ng to create the image of our mascot.
Pindari appears on stickers, wrapping and maybe even a sweatshirt!
For more detail on Leadbeater's Possum here's an extract from the Friends of the Leadbeater's Possum Org.
"Leadbeater's Possum was declared almost certainly extinct in 1960 as no live specimen had been seen for over 50 years, since 1909. Then, in 1961, the possum was sighted by naturalist Eric Wilkinson near Marysville, 90 minutes east of Melbourne – far from its original known habitat in the swamp forests of Western Gippsland. Previously, the last Leadbeater’s Possum was collected in 1909. Since it’s rediscovery, a great deal of interest, research and awareness has been raised among Victoria’s zoos, biologists, community groups and citizens. In 1971 it was made the official faunal emblem of Victoria.
Leadbeater’s Possum is a tiny, nocturnal creature with large eyes and a long tail measuring around 30 cms in tota length. It requires old growth eucalypt trees with established large hollows in a which it can build its nest. Each colony requires several suitable nest trees. As a result it is now located in small pockets of regrowth Mountain Ash forest with access to large, old hollow-bearing trees in Victoria’s Central Highlands from Toolangi, to Matlock and down to the Baw Baws. Leadbeater’s Possum numbers are estimated to have peaked in the mid-1980s. From then, it’s numbers have declined. Bushfires and logging have impacted on its habitat and range."
Devastatingly, the Black Saturday bushfires of 2009 burned around 45% of Leadbeater’s Possum’s reserved habitat. There are now estimated to be around 2,000 Leadbeater’s Possums.
