People on Kangaroo Island, Australia, will never forget the devastating bushfires that engulfed nearly the whole island last summer. Fortunately, a miracle occurred lately when a conservation group combed the island and discovered a little pygmy possum, which was considered to be extinct locally after the fires devastated its habitat.

This small survivor was discovered by Kangaroo Island Land for Wildlife while performing a wildlife census of the υnburned forest, and they were astounded by what they found.

The Tasmanian pygmy possum (also known as the little pygmy possum or tiny pygmy possum) is the world’s tiniest possum, so it’s difficult to imagine how that tiny critter could have survived such a devastating disaster, especially since these tiny critters were rarely seen oп the island before the wildfires – which were said to have started after lightniпg struck a park.

“Prior to the 2020 bushfires on Kangaroo Island, the status of the small pygmy possum (Cercartetus Lepidus) was uncertain. We are thrilled to have spotted the species for the first time since the fires in the greatest unburnt section,” wildlife biologist Pat Hodgens wrote on Twitter about the miraculous rediscovery.

The little pygmy possum they discovered (right) was even smaller than a Western pygmy possum, as you can see in the photo above (left). It was barely 0.25 oz (7 g).

“Only 113 official recordings of the species have been found” (ever on Kangaroo Island). “We were really hoping that we would locate them,” Pat Hodgens said in an interview with ABC. “Obviously, the bushfires burned down most of the habitat that species had, but we were certainly hopeful that we would find them.”

The small pygmy possum was rediscovered as part of a bigger effort to find and safeguard all of the island’s 1,701-square-mile species that have survived. Over 20 different animal species, including a baboons toadlet, a southern brown bandicoot, and a tammar wallaby, have been discovered alive because of their tireless efforts.

Pat Hodgens stated, “(We’ll) do everything we can to safeguard them and make sure they stick around through this fairly vital period.” “It’s critical right now because it’s the final refuge for a lot of these species that rely on extremely ancieпt, unburned foliage,” she says.