Greater glider

About

Australia's largest gliding marsupial, the (southern) greater glider was uplisted from Vulnerable to Endangered under the EPBC Act in July 2022 after severe habitat loss from logging and the 2019-20 bushfires. It is a nocturnal, solitary specialist that feeds almost exclusively on eucalypt leaves and buds.

How to spot it

Look up into tall, hollow-bearing eucalypts at night with a spotlight - the eyeshine glows a bright orange-red. Body 35-46cm plus a long, non-prehensile bushy tail up to 60cm; fur ranges from a dark almost-black morph to pale mottled grey, always with a lighter belly. Unlike sugar or yellow-bellied gliders it is silent and solitary, gliding in long slow swoops between tall trees rather than bounding through the canopy.

Found in

• Alpine National Park
• Kosciuszko National Park
• Namadgi National Park
• Barrington Tops National Park