The Greater Glider ( Petauroides voluns)
with its two northern and southern subspecies, was once common across the east
coast of Queensland, NSW and Victoria, from sea level to around 1,200m elevation.
Now, after a comprehensive
20-year monitoring program in conservation reserves, state forests and a range
of forest types and ages, the Federal government has taken the Scientific Committee's
advice and listed Greater Glider as a Vulnerable species under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act.
The glider, a
pretty animal, might easily have raised the same awareness and public interest as
the koala, only being a shy, dedicated nocturnal, hollow-dependent animal, it
is rarely seen by anyone not out at night looking for them.
Despite its name,
it is a light, fragile animal, with a head and body length of just over 30 cm, large
furry ears, a long tail for steering and balance, and fine bones covered by a
dense weightless fluffy coat. Single young are born between March to June each
year, reach sexual maturity in their second year, and have an estimated age
limit of 15 years.
Greater Gliders'
home range is small, between1-4 ha, to 16ha in more open forests, yet they
depend on large tracts of intact forest for survival, do not inhabit small
remnant forests, and will not disperse through non-native vegetation.
The gliders are
absent in areas with under 6 den hollows per hectare, and are now known to need
at least 160 km2 of connected native forest, with a ratio of
2-4 living old-growth hollow-bearing trees for every 2 ha, to sustain a viable
population.
Also, through a high
sensitivity to disturbance, and a poor ability to recover, and because most prime
habitat is in areas best suited to timber production, the Scientific
Committee's advice assigns a catastrophic consequence for the species by
fragmentation and habitat loss through clearing, clear-fell logging and
prescribed burning, and severe consequences by the current shorter rotation
logging practices, frequent fires, and a gradual loss of remaining old dead
stags.
In 2010 the
gliders were absent from all surveyed sites after widespread state wildfires in
2009.
- Patricia Edwards
This article was originally published in the VOICES FOR THE EARTH column in The Daily Examiner on October 24, 2016
This article was originally published in the VOICES FOR THE EARTH column in The Daily Examiner on October 24, 2016
