Possum gets endangered listing

Victoria's famous Leadbeater's Possum has been listed as critically endangered.

Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt made the decision following advice from the independent Threatened Species Scientific Committee, as well as experts and the community.

It means Victoria's faunal emblem will now receive the highest level of protection under national environment law, he said in a statement on Wednesday.

Environmental groups welcomed the minister's decision to acknowledge how close the animal was to extinction.

But establishment of the Great Forest National Park was urgently needed to protect the possum's habitat, according to The Wilderness Society, while the Australian Conservation Foundation called for the end of the logging threat.