The sight is one of the most extraordinary in the Australian wildlife: when a giant glider sails through the treetops, it looks something like a flying saucer. Or of a stingray floating through the seas. However, there are not many recordings of such flights. “Greater Gliders”, as they are called in their homeland, are among the most endangered mammals in the world – and at the same time one of the least known.
With an average weight of around one and a half kilograms, they are about the size of a domestic cat. “They are the largest gliding marsupials in the world,” the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper recently wrote. “Flying koalas that most people have never heard of and few have ever seen.” The scientific name for the marsupial mammals is Petauroides. They were once not so rare in the eucalyptus forests on the east coast. Today they are already considered extinct in some areas.
“They are fascinating creatures that lead a hidden life in the treetops of the forests,” said Ana Gracanin, who researches the animals at the Australian National University, to the German Press Agency. “They are incredibly fluffy, have large round ears and a very long tail.”
Always endemic to Australia
They have the fluff and cuteness in common with koalas, as well as their preference for eucalyptus leaves. One difference is that Greater Gliders can glide from tree to tree up to 100 meters. This is made possible by a membrane that extends from the wrist to the ankle – a kind of “furry wingsuit,” as the “Sydney Morning Herald” described it. “Hence the nickname ‘flying koala’,” explains Gracanin.
The animals, which have black, gray or white fur, are nocturnal and sleep in tree hollows during the day. After sunset they climb into the canopy. There they feed on eucalyptus throughout the night before disappearing back into their tree hollow. The females have offspring in spring and summer, which they initially carry in their pouch until the babies have grown too large. Then they carry the little ones on their backs through the foliage for a few more months. Greater Gliders have roamed the Earth for tens of millions of years, but have always been endemic to Australia.
Habitats are being deforested
Long-term studies over the past 20 years have shown that populations are declining extremely rapidly. Experts estimate that up to 85 percent of all giant gliders died, especially in the devastating “Black Summer” of 2019/2020. At that time, weeks of bushfires devastated more than twelve million hectares of land, and countless animals died or were displaced.
In addition to bushfires, the greatest threats include deforestation and the associated fragmentation of habitats. Environmentalists have been trying for some time to prevent further deforestation in the habitat of the last Greater Gliders in the forests of the state of New South Wales – specifically in the Tallaganda State Forest southeast of the capital Canberra, very close to a national park of the same name.
The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has repeatedly ordered work stoppages by the state-owned Forestry Corporation. She argues that the company failed to check whether endangered species were using the trees as habitat before starting the clearing work. The WWF also launched a petition to preserve the trees in the state forest and calls for “saving one of the last strongholds for the endangered giant gliders.”
Tourists can also go searching
Meanwhile, Gracanin continues to spend many nights conducting field research and tracking giant gliders in the wild. With a flashlight and binoculars we go into the woods – and then we have to wait and search until hopefully at some point the eyes of one of the fascinating animals light up. “I also climb trees to place cameras with motion sensors in the canopy and opposite tree cavities to better study the behavior of giant gliders,” she says.
The researcher advises tourists to go looking for themselves in Tallaganda National Park on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range. The animals live protected here and deforestation is prohibited. “Once you find a specimen, it tends to sit and stare at you. You usually have enough time to admire it extensively,” she enthuses. Just one thing to keep in mind: “You must have a red filter on your flashlight if you want to observe Greater Gliders for a long time so that you don’t hurt the animals’ eyes.”
