Yellow-bellied Glider

Petaurus australis is a large gliding possum, reaching up to 30 centimetres in body length with a tail of similar length, and is capable of gliding distances exceeding 100 metres between trees using the furred membrane stretched between its limbs. It is nocturnal and highly vocal, producing a distinctive shrieking call used to communicate across its territory. Living in small family groups, it feeds primarily on eucalypt sap, which it obtains by gouging characteristic V-shaped incisions into tree trunks, alongside nectar, pollen, honeydew, and invertebrates.

As a pollinator and sap-feeder, it plays a role in forest ecosystem processes and depends on trees with specific sap-flow characteristics that only develop with age.

The species is restricted to eastern Australia, occurring in tall, mature eucalypt forests and woodlands from Queensland through New South Wales and Victoria, with populations also associated with inland wetland-adjacent forest patches. It relies on old-growth hollow-bearing trees for den sites.

Its population is declining due to ongoing logging and clearing of mature forest, which removes both feed and den trees, alongside habitat loss from agricultural expansion. Roads fragment populations and increase mortality, while altered fire regimes, including more intense and frequent bushfires, destroy critical habitat structures. Droughts, linked to shifting climate patterns, reduce sap and nectar availability.

Conservation responses include protection of habitat in reserves and national parks, restrictions on logging in some forest types, post-fire habitat assessments, and research into den-tree retention requirements in managed forests. Some regional populations are subject to targeted monitoring programs.

Given continuing habitat loss and increasing fire severity, the population trend remains decreasing, and long-term persistence depends on retention of mature forest structure across its range.