Sugar Glider

Sugar Gliders are small, nocturnal, gliding possums. Like all possums they are marsupials. The newborn, usually twins, stay in the pouch for about two months. During the day, groups of up to six adults and their babies will share a nest hollow in a tree.

Their gliding from tree to tree is achieved with the aid of a membrane of skin between the front and hind feet. They have been recorded gliding up to 50 metres. There are numerous YouTube videos of Sugar Gliders in action, here’s one, LINK.

The varied diet of the Sugar Glider consists of nectar and pollen, seeds and fruit, insects, sap from trees, even small birds and their eggs. (The predation of Orange-bellied Parrots by Sugar Gliders in Tasmania is of concern at present – LINK)

Sugar Gliders are significant pollination vectors in some districts. Banksia species in particular are a favourite item in their diet.

Sugar Glider in a Bushy Yate

A soft ‘yip-yip’ like a distant small dog is an identifying call for the Sugar Glider – LINK.

Habitat destruction and fragmentation due to bushfires and land clearing are a significant threat to the Sugar Glider. Decline in tree hollows and predation by cats and dogs are not helping. There are some records of Sugar Gliders being snagged on barb-wired fences. 

Glider at its excavated source of Stringybark sap

Recent studies show considerable differences in the taxonomy and now the population is classified into three species: Sugar Glider, Krefft’s Glider and Savanah Glider. It seems the glider in our corner of the world is actually a ‘Krefft’s’ Glider. The ‘Sugar’ Glider is found mostly in southern Queensland and the ‘Savanah’ Glider range is across the ‘top end’ of WA, NT and Q’land.

Q: When is a Sugar Glider not a Sugar Glider? A: When its a Kreffts!