New Holland Mouse (Pseudomys novaehollandiae)
Description
- The New Holland Mouse is a small native rodent that lives in burrows.
- It has grey-brown fur and a dusky-brown tail that's darker on the top.
- It grows up to 65-90 mm long, and its tail measures 80-105 mm long.
- It looks similar to the common house mouse, but is distinguished by its bigger eyes and ears, has no notch on its upper teeth, and no distinct ‘mousy’ odour.
- It’s social and usually lives in burrows with other individuals.
- Females have between 1-6 babies. Younger females have one litter per year, and older females have up to 4 litters per year.
- It lives up to 2 years, with females becoming adults at 13 weeks old.
Find out more about the New Holland Mouse on NatureMapr.
Where to find them
The New Holland Mouse lives in along the coast of central and northern NSW. It was previously seen from southern Queensland to western Victoria, and in northern Tasmania.
Before the 1880s, the New Holland Mouse was common in the ACT across forests, woodlands and heath areas. In 2013, the New Holland Mouse was reintroduced into Mulligans Flat Woodland Sanctuary.
The reintroduced population lives in open native grasslands where Velvet Wallaby-grass (Rytidosperma pilosum) was present. The soil at Mulligans Flat is dense and clay-based, unlike the softer, sandy soils and leaf-covered ground where the mouse lives along the coast. This shows that the New Holland Mouse can burrow in different kinds of environments.
Conservation threats
Threats to the New Holland Mouse include:
- more frequent or intense fires
- being hunted by feral cats and foxes
- loss, fragmentation, and damage to its habitat
- less rainfall and more droughts caused by climate change.
Conservation status
- International – Vulnerable (International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List).
- National – Vulnerable (Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999).
- Australian Capital Territory – Vulnerable (Nature Conservation Act 2014).
Conservation actions
Conservation aims to rebuild the population of the New Holland Mouse and to protect its habitat, including to:
- set up a captive breeding colony at Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve
- manage threats from predators such as foxes and cats, as well as introduced herbivores such as rabbits
- conduct research to understand the species better
- raise public awareness and encourage the community to be involved in conservation efforts.