The Canberra Times' cartoonist David Pope has drawn attention to the forgotten heroes of Kosciuszko National Park in his recent posters released for Threatened Species Day.
Depicted on a quest across the high country, the corroboree frog, mountain pygmy-possum and broad-toothed rat are among the lesser-known creatures of Kosciuszko whose numbers are under threat.
Following on from highly-commended South Coast series, Pope produced these latest pieces after a call from a fan, the late Dr Graeme Worboys.
The former Australian National University professor approached Pope about producing a series on the park after seeing the work he'd done on the mountains and the coast after the bushfires.
Dr Worboys - a celebrated conservationist and Kosciuszko activist - sadly died before he could see what that prompting has inspired.
Pope said the late professor had really wanted to celebrate the "little animals who are not visible" and bring them to attention.
He said the challenge with drawing small creatures like the guthega skink and the flame robin was how to highlight them in the vastness of Kosciuszko National Park.
"I ended up putting them all together in this large vistas like they were on some type of journey and they ended up looking like film posters," Pope said.
"Now I want to win TattsLotto so I can make the film."
Pope drew inspiration for these posters while holidaying in Kosciusko in the middle of the year, before Covid returned to the region and the landscape was covered in snow.
Not being a skier, Pope said his experience of the mountains wasn't usually while they were white-capped as his visits were during the warmer months to spend time on the trails.
The two posters he has created from the trip - with a third on the way - could soon be used by the National Parks Association for their environmental campaigning.
The conservation group is active in highlighting the human impact on Kosciuszko National Park caused by global warming, introduced species and the commercialisation of natural resources.
"There's these three human threats which can all be addressed and there are people campaigning hard on all of those issues," Pope said.
"This was an aesthetic project to celebrate and remind people of what ecological values exist up in the high country and are under threat."
The posters are available for purchase along with some of the other wonderful works by David Pope.
