Family: Phalangeridae.
Status: Endangered.
Size: 12 to 20 in. length, weight 5 to 15 lbs.
Diet: Herbivore.
Characteristics: Solitary, nocturnal.
Area: Australia, New Guinea.
Offspring: One to three.
· The only other cuscus in Australia is the grey cuscus.
·
The tip of
the cuscus’ tail is hairless and scaly.
·
Australia’s
Taronga Zoo has a program to
breed cuscuses and then free them into the wild.
·
Although they’re considered herbivores, they will eat
certain types of meat in captivity.
The cuscus is a small marsupial with a long tail, round head, small head and big eyes. They not only resemble monkeys, but like them, cuscuses spend most of their time in trees. Spotted cuscus females are usually solid grey, with no spots at all. Cuscuses don’t have many enemies, but when threatened, a cuscus will bark loudly and attack with its front paws. They’re able to grasp branches with their hands and feet, as well as their tails. They’re very shy of humans and tend to spend the day sleeping in a leafy nest perched high on a branch, only coming out after dark to feed. The cuscus has a low metabolic rate/body temperature and therefore tends to move slowly (although they’re not quite as lethargic as sloths). The males scent mark their territories and guard them fiercely. Although the two spotted cuscus species are separated into two categories, they’re very similar. S. rufoniger is the larger of the two.
S. maculates is found on the Cape York Peninsula of Australia, in New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands, while S. rufoniger is found only in northern and eastern New Guinea. They live exclusively in forested areas, that are now rapidly decreasing due to logging. They’re heavily hunted for food, and both species are listed by CITES, with S. rufoniger recently listed as endangered by the IUCN.
The female has a pouch containing four nipples and usually has only one offspring, although litters of up to three have been documented. There is no set time of the year for breeding, and gestation is only about two weeks long. After the baby is too big to ride in the mother’s pouch, it is carried on the mother’s back. The lifespan of a spotted cuscus is up to eleven years.