CreatureData

Waigeou cuscus

Spilocuscus papuensis (Desmarest, 1822)

VUVulnerablemarsupials

The waigeou cuscus (Spilocuscus papuensis) is a species in the family Phalangeridae, order Diprotodontia. Recorded adults weigh about 4.16 kg and live up to 12.1 years. Source checklists list it for 1 country: Australia. Its IUCN Red List status is Vulnerable.

No freely licensed photo yet

Quick facts about the waigeou cuscus

Weight
4.16 kgsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
12.1 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Herbivoresrc for Diet
Longest recorded lifespan
17 years
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Gestation
13 dayssrc for Gestation
Young per litter or clutch
1.63src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
7.29 months – 7.98 monthssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
1.1src for Litters or clutches a year
Active
At night (nocturnal)src for Active
Lifestyle
Arborealsrc for Lifestyle
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
1 countrysrc for Countries on record

Where does the waigeou cuscus live?

Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.

The waigeou cuscus is listed for 1 country.

Australia
  • Listed
  • Not listed
small islands are not drawn at this scale

The same countries as a list

  1. Australia

Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.

What is the waigeou cuscus?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The Waigeou cuscus or Waigeou spotted cuscus (Spilocuscus papuensis) is a species of marsupial in the family Phalangeridae. It is endemic to the island of Waigeo in Indonesia, and consequently the spelling Waigeo cuscus is often used instead of Waigeou cuscus. Unlike all other members of the genus Spilocuscus, both sexes are whitish with black spots. It remains fairly common, but its small range makes it vulnerable to habitat loss and hunting.

From the Wikipedia article “Waigeou cuscus” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Waigeou_cuscus&oldid=1364784171), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the waigeou cuscus endangered?

The waigeou cuscus is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List: it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Vulnerable species.

How is the waigeou cuscus classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classMammalia
  4. orderDiprotodontia
  5. familyPhalangeridae
  6. genusSpilocuscus
  7. SpeciesSpilocuscus papuensis (Desmarest, 1822)

Synonyms Phalangista papuensis

Other names and names in other languages (15)
  • Waigeo cuscusEnglish
  • Waigeo cuscusEnglish
  • Waigeo cuscusEnglish
  • Waigeo spotted cuscusEnglish
  • Waigeo spotted cuscusEnglish
  • كسكس وايجيوArabic
  • kuskus waigeoskýCzech
  • Waigeo-TüpfelkuskusGerman
  • cuscús de WaigeoSpanish
  • Couscous de WaigeoFrench
  • Kuskus WaigeoIndonesian
  • ワイゲオブチクスクスJapanese
  • kuskus papuaskiPolish
  • Cuscus-de-WaigeouPortuguese
  • Папуасский кускусRussian

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the waigeou cuscus

Other species in the same genus Spilocuscus.

CompareWaigeou cuscus vs Common spotted cuscusWaigeou cuscus vs Black-spotted cuscusWaigeou cuscus vs Admiralty island cuscusWaigeou cuscus vs Biak spotted cuscus

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the waigeou cuscus?

An adult waigeou cuscus weighs 4.16 kg, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Where does the waigeou cuscus live?

Catalogue of Life checklists list the waigeou cuscus for 1 country: Australia. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.

Is the waigeou cuscus endangered?

The waigeou cuscus is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.

How long does the waigeou cuscus live?

The waigeou cuscus has a recorded lifespan of 12.1 years.

How long is the waigeou cuscus pregnant?

The recorded gestation period is 13 days.

What kind of animal is the waigeou cuscus?

The waigeou cuscus (Spilocuscus papuensis) belongs to the family Phalangeridae in the order Diprotodontia.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

Embed a card for this animal on your own site

Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.

Preview the card

APA

CreatureData. (2026). Waigeou cuscus (Spilocuscus papuensis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/waigeou-cuscus

MLA

“Waigeou cuscus (Spilocuscus papuensis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/waigeou-cuscus.

BibTeX
@misc{waigeou_cuscus_2026,
  title = {Waigeou cuscus (Spilocuscus papuensis)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/waigeou-cuscus},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}