Photo is a bettong that has been caught by researchers. The good news is their population has maybe tripled over the last few years in Australia’s largest nature preserve that is free of introduced predators - it has 45km (28mi) of 1.8m (just under 6’) tall fencing to keep it that way. Just 3 years ago they were reintroduced to the area after 60 years of local extinction.
Burrowing bettongs have little underground communities. Their cousins, the brushtail bettong have a prehensile tail they use to collect nesting material. The researcher thinks the burrowers are cuter, but the prehensile tail is adorable in its own right, I think.
Aww it’s making an excellent “wat” face.
The video in the article has some good footage too. The “why is there bright light when I am nocturnal?!” face is a mood I felt on a deeply personal level.
Ooh and they do little hops, too ♥️