Greater Glider Events Draw Great(er) Response From Logan Community

166 people attended Wildlife Queensland’s Queensland Glider Network greater glider events between 29 May and 20 June.

Greater glider spotted on the Noctural Animal Spotlighting event. Image © Perkelly Photography

The free event series, which included three workshops and two nocturnal animal spotlighting events in the Logan region, as well as a webinar, was funded by Logan City Council and is part of a larger project on greater gliders in the local government area.

Wildlife Queensland has been fortunate to be involved with Logan City Council and help with a range of greater glider population surveys, nest box installation and monitoring for greater gliders, community workshops and spotlight events, said Wildlife Queensland Projects Manager, Matt Cecil.

“The aims of this project are to learn more about greater gliders in Logan and to engage and educate Logan residents and the broader community about this vulnerable species, their conservation needs, and what you can do to help them in your backyard,” said Cecil.

“Thank you to Logan City Council, our guest speakers, and Hollow Log Homes for their support, and to everyone who attended this fantastic event series.

“Greater gliders need considerable help and they need your conservation effort. The species is listed as vulnerable under Federal and Queensland legislation, so, they are deemed to be at risk of extinction if we don’t do something to help them. They’re not really well-known to tolerate habitat alteration and fragmentation, and they’re quite reliant on mature eucalypt forests and their associated tree hollows, as a hollow-dependent species.”

Greater glider © Perkelly Photography

“Thanks to the Queensland Glider Network for taking us out last night to see no less than 6 Greater Gliders. These little guys are classed as vulnerable but the reality is that the situation is much worse which makes this little haven that they have found so remarkable.” 

 Perkelly Photography

“Our local residents have been busy investigating the new nest boxes we installed last week. It takes hundreds of years for trees to naturally form hollows and sadly most animals are forced out of areas when their original homes are cut down and they can’t adapt like the possums in your roof or the micro-bats in your shower curtain. Supplying nest boxes to lessen the competition for tree hollows encourages animals out of houses and into safer areas, whilst also freeing up hollows for the owls, gliders & cockatoos with specific hollow requirements. Special thanks to Hollow Log Homes & Wildlife Queensland for these beautiful nest boxes, already proving their value to the local wildlife! 

Photographers Downunder
Nest boxes built at the Greater Glider and Nest Box Building Workshop. © Photographers Downunder

Greater Glider Distribution and Conservation

Greater gliders are nocturnal and we don’t get to see them very much, unlike koalas which are often in the media limelight, said Queensland Herbarium Principal Ecologist, Dr Teresa Eyre.

“Greater glider distribution is throughout eastern Australia, from central Victoria all the way up to the Windsor Tablelands in Far Noth Queensland. However, within that very broad distribution, their area of occupancy is quite limited because they are very reliant on tall eucalypts, woodlands and forests, and very reliant on particular habitat features, such as hollow-bearing trees and particular food species, and these aren’t found everywhere.”

Due to their specific habitat requirements and small population sizes, greater gliders are at particular risk of climate change and intensifying bushfire seasons.

“The conservation status of the greater glider is vulnerable throughout its range. However, with the recent wildfires and the fact that there have been dramatic declines in the species in the last 30 years, they are currently being assessed to uplist them throughout most of their range to the endangered status,” said Eyre.

What Can We Do to Help Them?

Knowing what the problem is is the first step, and then what to do is the second step, and then action, said Eyre.

  1. Find – future climate refugia for greater gliders
  2. Restore – where glider habitat is lost
  3. Protect – where habitat remains
  4. Watch – monitoring gliders and their habitat
  5. Stay positive, collaborate and engage

For more information about greater gliders and what you can do to help them:

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