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Download Small, furry marsupials such as the bandicoot, quoll and tree possum are in dramatic decline in northern Australia, and feral cats could be the cause, according to an analysis reported on Wednesday. Chris Johnson, a wildlife conservation professor from the University of Tasmania, said small mammal species were at risk of extinction across the continent, but the changes in the north were marked. "There's a pretty clear picture, and it shows that lots of species have declined dramatically," Johnson said. "Where we can infer the timing of decline, it's been fairly recent. And there are now large areas where small mammals are either very rare or don't exist, but the habitat looks like it should support small mammals." Johnson said that while scientists discussed the changes as a "new wave of decline", it was not clear how sudden it was except that it became very noticeable in the early 1990s, particularly in places such as Kakadu National Park, a conservation area in the Northern Territory. About 20 small native mammals have disappeared from Kakadu in recent decades, including ratlike bandicoots, northern quolls, tree possums, and the weasel like phascogale, he said, adding that similar declines had occurred elsewhere. A new analysis from a database of current mammal populations reported to a meeting of experts in Canberra on Wednesday has allowed researchers to compare the current wave of extinction across different species with those in the past, Johnson said, adding that it revealed some common factors. | 
