...and yet still you don't give any further information which might be convincing....
Presumably the owner in this chat gave you something which confirmed for you it was a Burramys - but even after your posts above, still all that has been provided anywhere here is a blurry photo and a statement that the sign said it was this species. Where did it come from, how did the zoo obtain it ... these are the sort of questions requiring answers before I could be more convinced it was a Burramys than any other more likely species.
If it was a Burramys that's great - I think that is unlikely, but if it was then great - but as it stands now the evidence does not convince me.
Well given that it is more than a few years since the chat with the owner,from memory I think he said it was customs seizure from somebodys luggage on a flight from Australia,I think it was identified by the Late Frank Wheeler from London Zoo,with whom the owner he had a very good working relationship,due to him taking many species,when London had a very major clear out in the Clore!
if that is the case then I am happy to accept it was a Burramys.
However, this information would have been most useful in the previous discussion when all you had to offer was "It was labelled as Burramys parvus,as that is what I wrote down in my notes!" followed by "As for its id I can only take the word of the labelling and my very poor picture of it". These two statements don't really match well with suddenly having a whole lot of other information.
Does this animal hibernate? Is it kept in a cooled enclosure? How big is it?
To throw in another option, it could be Cercartetus caudatus, which does live at high altitudes in Indonesia so would be open to trade and might because of its habitat be referred to as a "mountain pygmy possum".
A customs confiscation would be the only legal way Burramys could come to them, but it still seems unlikely one would be smuggled out. They are not exactly common or easy to find.
I could believe one of the other pygmy possums was smuggled, either from Australia or Indonesia.
Does this animal hibernate? Is it kept in a cooled enclosure? How big is it?
To throw in another option, it could be Cercartetus caudatus, which does live at high altitudes in Indonesia so would be open to trade and might because of its habitat be referred to as a "mountain pygmy possum".
A customs confiscation would be the only legal way Burramys could come to them, but it still seems unlikely one would be smuggled out. They are not exactly common or easy to find.
I could believe one of the other pygmy possums was smuggled, either from Australia or Indonesia.
if it was obtained from the UK Customs seizing a single smuggled animal, I think the New Guinea species would be the most unlikely option as few travellers would be holidaying in their range. If it was obtained via a dealer then the New Guinea species would be most likely.
I could imagine someone on a ski holiday in Australia coming across a Burramys - I saw one once on an episode of Who Dares Wins bolting across the snow when they were filming at one of the ski fields in the area.
