Possums found dead in Ballarat's Victoria Park

The jogger, who asked to remain anonymous, sent pictures of the dead animals to an animal cruelty service asking whether it was possible the possums had been killed by humans or other animals.

The images, forwarded to The Courier by the Animal Cruelty Hotline, show three juvenile and one older possum. The oldest was a brushtail possum, while the three juveniles were ringtails.

Barrie Tapp is operations manager for Animal Cruelty Hotline, and a former RSPCA chief investigator.

The discovery comes just weeks after a decapitated, mutilated kangaroo was found on the boundary of Victoria Park.

He says in his opinion it's unlikely the animals died from exposure or other natural causes, and it's possible the possums were baited.

Sharon Hinchcliffe, manager of Ballarat native animal welfare shelter Possum Paws, says baiting has occurred previously.

Mr Tapp emailed the City of Ballarat and the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning asking for an investigation into the deaths. The City of Ballarat says it is looking into the matter.

While neither brushtail or ringtail possums are endangered, the latter have been threatened in the past by deforestation.

Ringtail possums are smaller than brushtails and are also killed by cats and dogs.

Both species are hunted by foxes; however the Ballarat Wildlife Park says the photos appear not to show the usual evisceration of prey which foxes usually display.

Mr Tapp told The Courier animal cruelty was an ongoing issue in Ballarat, after the discovery earlier this month of a decapitated kangaroo in Winter Street, near Victoria Park.

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