Yellow-bellied Glider - profile

Scientific name: Petaurus australis 
 Conservation status in NSW: Vulnerable

Description

The Yellow-bellied Glider is a large, active, sociable and vocal glider. Adults weigh 450 - 700 grams, have a head and body length of about 30 cm and a large bushy tail that is about 45 cm long. It has grey to brown fur above with a cream to yellow belly, which is paler in young animals. The dark stripe down the back is characteristic of the group. It has a large gliding membrane that extends from the wrist to the ankle. It has a loud, distinctive call, beginning with a high-pitched shriek and subsiding into a throaty rattle.

Location and habitat

Distribution
 The Yellow-bellied Glider is found along the eastern coast to the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range, from southern Queensland to Victoria.

• Den, often in family groups, in hollows of large trees.
• Occur in tall mature eucalypt forest generally in areas with high rainfall and nutrient rich soils.
• Forest type preferences vary with latitude and elevation; mixed coastal forests to dry escarpment forests in the north; moist coastal gullies and creek flats to tall montane forests in the south.
• Feed primarily on plant and insect exudates, including nectar, sap, honeydew and manna with pollen and insects providing protein.
• Extract sap by incising (or biting into) the trunks and branches of favoured food trees, often leaving a distinctive ‘V’-shaped scar.
• Live in small family groups of two - six individuals and are nocturnal.
• Very mobile and occupy large home ranges between 20 to 85 ha to encompass dispersed and seasonally variable food resources.

Regional information
This species is found in the following catchment management authority regions. Click on a region name to see more details about the distribution, vegetation types and habitat preference of the species in that region.

• Border Rivers/Gwydir
• Central West
• Hawkesbury/Nepean
• Hunter/Central Rivers
• Lachlan
• Murray
• Murrumbidgee
• Namoi
• Northern Rivers
• Southern Rivers

Threats

• Loss and fragmentation of habitat.
• Loss of hollow-bearing trees.
• Loss of feed trees.

Recovery strategies

Priority actions are the specific, practical things that must be done to recover a threatened species, population or ecological community. The Department of Environment and Conservation has identified 14 priority actions to help recover the Yellow-bellied Glider in New South Wales.

What needs to be done to recover this species?

• Retain den trees and recruitment trees (future hollow-bearing trees).
• Retain food resources, particularly sap-feeding trees
• Retain and protect areas of habitat, particularly mature or oldgrowth forest containing hollow-bearing trees and sap-feeding trees.
• Maintain connectivity between habitat patches.
• In urban and rural areas retain and rehabilitate habitat to maintain or increase the total area of habitat available, reduce edge effects, minimise foraging distances and increase the types of resources available.

References

• Goldingay R.L. and Kavanagh R.P. (1991). The Yellow-bellied Glider: a review of its ecology and management considerations. Conservation of Australia's Forest Fauna (ed. D. Lunney): 365-75. Royal Zoological Society of NSW.
• Menkhorst, P. and Knight, F. (2001). A Field Guide to the Mammals of Australia. Oxford Uni Press, Melbourne.
• NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (2003) Recovery Plan for Yellow-bellied Glider (Petaurus australis). NSW NPWS, Hurstville NSW.
• Russell, R. (1995). Yellow-bellied Glider (pp. 226-8) in Strahan, R. (ed.), The Australian Museum Complete Book of Australian Mammals. Angus & Robertson, Sydney.