Glider spotted in Queensland forest for first time in 25 years

So it was an incredibly quiet night. We were walking along a fire line, as you said, and normally you would hear a Boo Boo gal or a sugar glider or something off in the distance. But I started to lose hope that we might see anything at all because yeah, there was nothing calling, no signs. But then, after about 400 meters, I saw some really bright eye shine off into the distance with my torch. So I I yelled to my colleague Paul Revie. I’ve got eye shine. You need to go up to that tree and have a look at what it is. Wasn’t sure if it was a possum or a glider, and sure enough, it was a greater glider. And those are some pretty awesome ears that the greater glider has, huh? Yeah, they’re pretty spectacular animals. So that little ones. A sugar glider? Yeah, which most people might be familiar with. And then we’ve got the dark morph and the light morph. Greater gliders as well. Yeah, cool. So what makes this sighting so special and and how excited were you to actually see it? I’m always excited to see a greater glider, but particularly in an area that’s undergone logging, it’s really, really important to know that these threatened species are still there. It is also a good indicator that you know in the future when these trees regrow after logging, that this is really good future habitat for a greater glider population. But unfortunately, those trees will take up to 150 years to form hollows that are big enough for a greater glider. Yeah, so just this one’s that one’s the little ears is the sugar glider. We’ll make that clear to our viewers. And the ones with the big ears are the glider gliders. So how widespread were the gliders 50 years ago? 50 years ago, greater gliders were considered common in new eucalyptus forest all up the East Coast of Australia. And so if you went out at night with a torch, they don’t vocalise, so you have to look for them with your eyes. Unfortunately, you’d be very likely to see one in eucalyptus forest as long as those hollows were present. And so logging has now stopped in this Diongwa state forest that you’re in. It’s kind of North East of Toowoomba. Between Toowoomba and Esk. What are your hopes about how quickly the Greater Gliders will grow in numbers there now? Yeah, so greater gliders, they need those large hollow bearing trees and because it will take about 150 years for those new growth trees to form hollows, it’s a slow burn. But I am hopeful that maybe with some community input or government investment or private investment, we can supplement some of that critical habitat by installing nest boxes appropriately, which will also serve as habitat grater gliders. Yeah. And so what’s involved in the process of making nest boxes and getting them in the right place? Do you get involved in that? Yeah, absolutely. I’m not very handy myself, so I’m not out with the tools, but I do know of a few designs that are suitable for grater gliders. So they’re really, really susceptible to thermal stress. So they need to be quite well insulated. If you think of a natural tree hollow, it’s got that Xylem around it. It’s got the trunk around it. It’s actually quite cool inside. So you need to make sure that they’re thick enough that they’re well insulated, and they also need to be put high, high up in the trees. So you want them at least ten metres up in trees because greater gliders feed on leaves like koalas do, and they very, very seldom come low down into trees. And why would you when you can glide? And do they have to be relatively big if they’ve got insulation around them? Exactly. So the ones that I’ve dealt with are about 13 kilos each. They’re quite heavy. Oh, you need ropes to climb up the trees. Yeah, Yeah. And what can you tell us about the situation with, oh, there’s a great shot of one of the is that a great glider in action? Yes, it is. And their gliding membrane actually attaches to their elbows. So when they’re gliding, they have to put their arms up. Really cute, yeah. And then that’s how they travel between the trees. And what’s the situation more broadly in southeast Queensland with state forests being converted to conservation areas? Yeah, well, we definitely welcome any conversion to the protected areas to stay. So the Queensland government has committed to transitioning state forests to either conservation park or National Park under the Nature Conservation Act, which means that those areas will not be logged in the future, which is great news. And so how confident are you about the the future for the greater glider in southeast Queensland? Mixed confidence. They’re very susceptible to Bush fires. So the 20/19/20 Bush fires actually triggered them to be listed as endangered under federal legislation. And we know our protected areas are not free from Bush fires, which can have catastrophic consequences for these beautiful animals.