by Mandrake Chapman, first published in December 2015

Norbeck’s Pademelon (thylogale norbeckii) was named after Gustav Norbeck (1722-1798), the Swedish explorer and naturalist who explored Australia and Tasmania from the fall of 1750 until the summer of 1751.  Although Norbeck named seven species of mammals, three species of birds, and four species of plants after himself, the small arboreal pademelon is the only one to still bear his name. 

Norbeck’s Pademelon suffered a severe decline in numbers in the mid-twentieth century because it mistook the discarded flip-tops from beer cans for the seedpods from The Australian Wandering Shrub (vagantem virgultii) that make up the majority of its diet.  In what one botanist simply referred to as “just another irony,” Norbeck’s Pademelon came to represent the nascent environmentalist movement in Australia.  In the late 1960s, just when people were becoming increasingly aware of issues with the environment, it became obvious that Norbeck’s Pademelon, for (at the time) unknown reasons, was quickly dying off.  It was estimated that the Pademelon’s population dropped from around 50 million in the early 1960s, to well below one million by 1970.

To raise awareness of the Pademelon’s plight, the Australian Environmental Coalition (AEC) had several fundraisers, where, quite naturally, beer was served – canned beer with flip-top openers.  After each fundraiser there was a sharp increase in Pademelon deaths, which prompted the AEC to hold even larger fundraisers.  It is believed  that the only thing that saved Norbeck’s Pademelon from extinction was the completely unintentional shift in beer can openers by the beer industry.  Even though that type of opener is no longer commonly used on any beverages, Norbeck’s Pademelon has never regained its former status.  Loss of habitat and evasive species, such as the rabbit and humans, are primarily to blame.