Rope bridges could save possums from becoming road kill

Published on 11 December 2023

High above the bustling traffic on Lady Game Drive, possums are using purpose-built rope bridges to safely cross the road.

An experiment by Council staff to check whether local possums could learn to use rope bridges to safely cross one of Ku-ring-gai’s busiest roads appears to have been a success.

Two rope bridges were installed earlier in the tree canopy above a section of Lady Game Drive.  Now a joint team of Council staff and academics from the University of Sydney have begun monitoring the rope bridges which sit above the road.

Using eight remote cameras, all powered by solar panels, the team began investigating how many possums were using the rope bridges.

Much to the delight of the team, the cameras have detected both ringtail and brushtail possums regularly using the bridges, including mothers carrying their young.

Some possums have learnt to cross the road using the interior of the bridge, while others are using the top of the rope bridge.

“We all know that sense of grief when we see wildlife injured on the roads”, Mayor Sam Ngai said.

“It’s encouraging to see these rope bridges have provided ringtails and brushtails with a safe way to move between feeding areas, and I look forward to the outcomes of the trial.”

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Media enquiries: Sally Williams, Ku-ring-gai Council 9424 0000.