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Squirrel Glider (Petaurus norfolcensis)

The Squirrel Glider is a medium-sized, nocturnal arboreal marsupial of eastern Australia. It uses mature eucalypt woodland and open forest with nectar-producing shrubs, connected tree cover and hollow-bearing trees, so clearing and construction can remove feeding habitat, den sites and movement routes.

Conservation status

New South Wales, Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016: Vulnerable.

Victoria, Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988: Vulnerable.

South Australia, National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972: Endangered.

Breeding season

The breeding period extends across much of the cooler and wetter part of the year, with regional variation. Young remain in the pouch or group nest for several months, so clearing risk extends beyond the period of birth.

Timing varies between regions and with food availability. A second litter may occur in productive habitat or after loss of the first litter.

  • Breeding and births: Breeding and births occur mainly from April to November, with a peak in winter and spring. Breeding commonly begins in June or July in south-eastern Australia.
  • Young in pouch or nest: Pouch life is about 70 days, followed by about 40 to 50 days in the group nest. Young begin leaving the nest at about 110 to 120 days and may remain dependent within the natal area for about a year.
  • Dispersal and movement: There is no documented seasonal migration. Individuals move nightly through connected tree cover, and young disperse at about 12 to 18 months. Juvenile mortality during dispersal is high.
  • Highest clearing risk: Risk is highest from June to October when breeding, pouch young and dependent young overlap. Clearing at any time can remove occupied hollows, group dens and food trees, so pre-clearing inspection remains necessary year round.

Identification

The Squirrel Glider is a grey, white-bellied gliding possum with a dark dorsal stripe, a bushy tail and a black-edged gliding membrane. It is often difficult to detect because it has weak eyeshine, usually forages high in the canopy and is less vocal than the Sugar Glider.

Adults have blue-grey to brown-grey upperparts, clean white underparts, a dark stripe from between the eyes towards the mid-back, black markings around the ears and a black border to the gliding membrane. The tail is soft and bushy, with the terminal third to half black.

The species is larger than the Sugar Glider, with a head and body length of 17 to 24 cm and a weight of 190 to 330 g. Males and females can be difficult to distinguish reliably in the field, although adult males have well-developed scent glands on the forehead.

Identification: Similar gliders

The Sugar Glider is smaller, weighing about 90 to 150 g, with a head and body length of 16 to 20 cm. It has a more snub-nosed appearance, less bold black markings, pale grey or cream rather than clean white underparts, and a tail that is black mainly on the terminal quarter. The Squirrel Glider has a deeper, resonant grunt, while the Sugar Glider has a distinctive yapping call.

The Yellow-bellied Glider is larger and darker, has a yellow or cream belly and gives complex shrieking and gurgling calls. The Greater Glider is much larger, has stronger eyeshine and a different body shape and colour pattern.

Identification: Field signs

The common call is a deep, resonant grunt. Calls may be difficult to detect because the species is relatively quiet and has weak eyeshine. Spotlighting can therefore underestimate presence.

Look for leaf-lined nests in tree hollows, scent-marking on trees, and repeated use of hollow-bearing trees by a social group. Groups may rotate among about 20 hollow trees over six weeks. Tracks and scats are not described as reliable identification signs in the supplied documents, so visual confirmation, calls, hollow inspection and targeted arboreal survey methods are preferable.

  • Weak eyeshine compared with the bright eyeshine of the Greater Glider.
  • Deep grunting call, unlike the Sugar Glider's yapping call.
  • Leaf-lined nest within a tree hollow.
  • Use of multiple hollow trees within a defended group territory.

Distribution: States and regions

The Squirrel Glider occurs along eastern Australia from north Queensland to western Victoria, with a small number of records in extreme south-eastern South Australia. Its main stronghold is the north-east New South Wales to south-east Queensland region, although it is patchy and uncommon through much of the southern part of its range.

The national range includes Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and a small area of extreme south-eastern South Australia. In Queensland, the species extends from the northern range near Charters Towers through south-east Queensland. In New South Wales it occurs on the North Coast and inland slopes, with records concentrated in the Clarence and lower Richmond Valleys, the Central Coast and parts of the western slopes.

In Victoria, it is patchily distributed north of the Great Dividing Range, from the northern Grampians in the west to near Wodonga in the east. It occurs through the box-ironbark region, central and northern riverine plains, and gentle inland slopes.

Broad range: North Queensland to western Victoria, with a few records in extreme south-eastern South Australia.

Core range: North-east New South Wales and south-east Queensland.

Queensland elevation pattern: Generally recorded below 300 m in south-east Queensland.

Distribution: Strongholds and subpopulations

Important areas include south-east Queensland, the Clarence and lower Richmond Valleys, the Central Coast of New South Wales, the Nandewar Bioregion and suitable box-ironbark woodland on the western slopes. In Victoria, subpopulations are concentrated in fragmented woodland areas north of the Great Dividing Range.

New South Wales populations are described as probably forming two broad groups, one on the North Coast and one on the inland slopes, because the species is sparse or absent at higher tableland elevations. Two Endangered Populations are listed in New South Wales at the Barrenjoey Peninsula and in the Wagga Wagga Local Government Area.

Distribution: Population information

The total national population is not established. The species is generally rare and patchy in New South Wales, and many remaining groups occur in small, isolated remnants. Population numbers can fall sharply when flowering fails, especially where alternative food resources are limited.

In Victoria, the assessment inferred 2,000 to 5,000 mature individuals, although the evidence was considered too weak to meet the relevant population-size criteria. In New South Wales, the population was considered likely to exceed 10,000 mature individuals, but this estimate is uncertain.

Estimated mature individuals in Victoria: 2,000 to 5,000, inferred from monitoring data.

New South Wales estimate: Likely more than 10,000 mature individuals, but uncertain.

Victorian area of occupancy: Estimated at 1,057 km² from accepted post-1970 records.

Population fluctuation: One monitored population declined by about 80% during a poor flowering spring, with a 55% decline in the total population and a 42% decline in adults compared with the preceding four-year mean.

Habitat: Vegetation communities

Squirrel Gliders mainly use dry eucalypt woodland and open forest, including fragmented remnants and some peri-urban bushland. Suitable habitat combines mature or mixed-age trees, hollow-bearing trees, nectar and exudate-producing plants, a shrub layer and connected tree cover.

Preferred habitat includes hollow-bearing, floriferous eucalypt open forest and woodland with Banksia or Acacia in the shrub layer. In south-east Queensland, the species is associated with ironbarked eucalypts such as Eucalyptus crebra, E. melanophloia, E. siderophloia and E. fibrosa, and with spotted gums such as Corymbia citriodora.

Other suitable communities include box-ironbark woodland on the inland slopes, including Yellow Box, Mugga Ironbark and White Box on fertile soils. The species can occur in rainforest or wetter forest in parts of south-east Queensland, but dry eucalypt woodland and open forest are the main habitat types described.

Habitat: Structural features

Large mature trees with abundant hollows are needed for denning and breeding. A mixed-age tree structure helps maintain both existing hollows and future hollow-bearing trees. Standing dead trees and ironbarked eucalypts are frequently used for nesting or refuge.

A connected canopy or series of suitable trees allows movement between feeding areas and den trees. The species can use narrow linear remnants as narrow as 20 m where vegetation remains suitable, but isolated areas are difficult to recolonise.

Smallest recorded habitat patch: Squirrel Gliders have been detected in suitable habitat patches as small as 10 ha.

Linear remnant width: Use of suitable linear remnants as narrow as 20 m has been reported.

Movement connection: Tree cover within about 70 m is generally needed for movement between patches, although longer glides can occur in favourable conditions.

Habitat: Elevation and setting

In south-east Queensland, records are generally below 300 m. The species is associated with lowland dry forest and woodland around Brisbane, including riparian bushland, but it is not usually found in dense coastal ranges, high rainfall areas or immediately beside creeks in that region.

Foraging habitat: Diet

Squirrel Gliders forage at night through the canopy and shrub layer. They feed on a mixed supply of plant exudates, flowers, honeydew and invertebrates, so habitat quality depends on both mature food trees and a diverse understorey.

The diet includes nectar, pollen, Acacia gum, eucalypt sap, honeydew, resin and other plant exudates. Invertebrates include moths, beetles and other bark or canopy-associated prey. Small vertebrates, bird eggs and nestling birds are eaten occasionally.

The balance between plant and animal foods changes with habitat and season. In south-east Queensland, many invertebrate and plant foods occur in the eucalypt canopy, while the understorey can increase the abundance and diversity of invertebrates.

  • Retain flowering eucalypts, Acacia, Banksia and other nectar-producing plants.
  • Retain mature trees with sap-producing bark and branches.
  • Avoid removing the shrub layer where it supports canopy and understorey invertebrates.
  • Check for seasonal flowering failure when assessing whether a remnant can support a group.

Foraging habitat: Foraging movements

Individuals forage widely across their group territory and may move 300 to 500 m in a night. A glider may use 1 to 3 ha during a single night, while the longer-term home range can extend to several hectares or more than 10 ha depending on habitat quality.

Groups defend territories by scent-marking and may use about 20 hollow trees over six weeks. A clearing that removes only part of a remnant can still remove food trees or interrupt movement between den and feeding areas.

Typical nightly movement: About 300 to 500 m.

Reported overnight area used: About 1 to 3 ha in one Brisbane study.

Reported densities: About 0.89 to 1.54 animals per ha on the central north coast of New South Wales, 0.38 animals per ha in north-east Victoria, and 1.06 animals per ha in one Fitzgibbon, Brisbane study.

Breeding habitat: Breeding biology

Breeding occurs in tree hollows within the group territory. The den must provide shelter for the female and young, while nearby flowering trees and connected canopy support the energetic demands of reproduction.

Breeding season: Usually April to November, with births commonly peaking in winter or spring. In south-eastern Australia, breeding commonly begins in June or July.

Litter size: Usually one or two young, rarely three.

Second litter: Possible in a year, mainly at productive sites or if the first litter is lost.

Gestation: Slightly less than three weeks.

Pouch life: About 70 days.

Age at first breeding: About one year.

Longevity: Up to about 7 to 8 years in the wild.

Breeding habitat: Breeding habitat features

Females give birth and raise young in a leaf-lined nest within a tree hollow. The young remain in the pouch for about 70 days, then stay in the group nest for a further 40 to 50 days. They begin leaving the nest to forage at about 110 to 120 days and may remain within the natal area for about a year.

Retain hollow-bearing trees, standing dead trees and a connected group of mature trees around each potential den. Protect nearby flowering eucalypts, Acacia and Banksia because breeding groups depend on reliable seasonal food supplies.

Sheltering habitat: Hollow-bearing trees

Squirrel Gliders shelter and breed in tree hollows rather than burrows. They use several hollows within their territory, often returning to group dens lined with leaves.

Preferred hollows have a large internal cavity that can hold several gliders or a large nest, with a relatively small entrance that helps exclude predators such as goannas. Squirrel Gliders are reported to prefer fissures in trunks and branches with entrances smaller than 5 cm.

Stags, ironbarked eucalypts and large mature trees are important refuge resources. Do not assume that a tree without an observed animal is unused, because groups rotate among many hollow trees.

Preferred entrance: Fissures or cavities with entrances smaller than 5 cm are preferred.

Hollow trees used: A group may use about 20 hollow trees over six weeks.

  • Retain live hollow-bearing trees, standing dead trees and large dead limbs where public safety allows.
  • Inspect hollow-bearing trees before clearing and record all cavities, fissures and visible nesting material.
  • Retain a connected group of den trees rather than isolated hollow trees.
  • Use nest boxes only as a supplement where appropriate, not as a substitute for retaining natural hollows.

Sheltering habitat: Shelter and movement cover

Dense coastal ranges, high rainfall areas and some creekside settings are not preferred in south-east Queensland, but suitable riparian bushland can support the species where the wider woodland structure and food resources remain suitable.

Connected canopy and tree cover are important because Squirrel Gliders rarely use the ground or lower habitat structure. Barbed wire, cleared gaps and urban surfaces can increase movement risk and reduce access to neighbouring hollows.

Threats: Clearing and fragmentation

The main project risks are removal of mature and hollow-bearing trees, loss of flowering food trees, fragmentation of connected canopy and disturbance or mortality during clearing. Small groups are particularly exposed because they have limited ability to recolonise isolated remnants.

Clearing for urban development, agriculture, roads, mining, plantations and construction removes woodland, food trees and den trees. Fragmentation can isolate social groups and prevent recolonisation after local extinction.

Squirrel Gliders usually need tree cover within about 70 m for movement between patches. Clearing gaps, wide road corridors and built areas can therefore separate otherwise suitable remnants.

  • Map and retain hollow-bearing trees, flowering food trees and tree-to-tree movement routes before finalising the clearing footprint.
  • Avoid removing narrow connecting strips, roadside vegetation and paddock trees that link larger remnants.
  • Keep construction compounds, stockpiles and access tracks out of den trees and high-quality feeding habitat where practicable.
  • Plan staged clearing and pre-clearing inspection around the breeding and dependent-young period.

Threats: Trees, hollows and fire

Hollows are lost through clearing, firewood collection, timber harvesting, removal of dead trees and removal of limbs for perceived safety risks. Hollows form slowly, so removal of mature trees can reduce shelter availability for many years.

Frequent or intense fire can destroy den trees, reduce hollow availability and remove flowering or sap-producing food trees. Grazing and feral herbivores can suppress regeneration of the trees and shrubs needed to replace these resources.

  • Protect mature trees, stags, dead limbs and hollow-bearing trees from unnecessary removal.
  • Avoid high-intensity or high-frequency fire in known or likely habitat.
  • Retain and regenerate Acacia, Banksia and floriferous eucalypts.
  • Prevent grazing or soil disturbance from removing the shrub layer and tree recruitment.

Threats: Roads, fencing and predators

Roads can reduce apparent survival, and vehicles can kill gliders moving between remnants. Barbed-wire fencing can injure or kill animals, particularly where it interrupts movement routes.

Feral Cats, Red Foxes and wild dogs are predators. Domestic cats are an additional risk around urban remnants. Goannas, pythons and Powerful Owls are native predators, and exotic bees and Common Mynas can compete for hollows.

  • Identify road crossing points and retain or provide safe canopy connections where required by the project.
  • Remove or modify unnecessary barbed wire near known habitat and movement routes.
  • Control feral and domestic predators around retained remnants.
  • Manage exotic species that occupy or exclude Squirrel Gliders from tree hollows.

Threats: Food shortages and climate pressure

Poor flowering can cause large, rapid population declines. Small isolated groups have fewer alternative food sources and may be less able to recover after drought, failed flowering or fire.

The effects of climate change are not fully resolved, but altered rainfall, drought and changing fire regimes are expected to affect both the species and its food plants.

  • Avoid clearing during periods when flowering resources are scarce if the program can be timed flexibly.
  • Retain a range of flowering tree and shrub species so food is available across seasons.
  • Monitor retained habitat after fire, drought or major construction for loss of hollows, flowers and canopy connectivity.

Survey methodology: 1. Habitat assessment and den searches

Survey Squirrel Gliders in suitable habitat before clearing or construction. Use more than one method because this species is difficult to detect: it has weak eyeshine, rarely calls and usually forages high in the canopy.

Map dry eucalypt woodland and open forest, hollow-bearing trees, stags, mature trees, Acacia or Banksia shrub layers, flowering trees and connected tree cover before selecting survey sites.

Search hollow-bearing trees and potential den trees during the day, and record tree location, species, diameter, hollow entrance size and condition where this can be done safely.

Give particular attention to mature or mixed-age stands, ironbarked eucalypts, spotted gums and other trees that provide hollows, nectar, sap or pollen.

Typical habitat: Dry eucalypt woodland and open forest, often with Acacia or Banksia understorey and mature hollow-bearing trees.

Gliding distance: Usually requires connected tree cover within about 70 m, although individuals may cross open ground occasionally.

  • Inspect the full area that may be cleared or affected indirectly, including retained vegetation, roadside strips and proposed access routes.
  • Treat habitat as potentially occupied where suitable tree hollows and connected canopy are present, even when no animal is detected.

Survey methodology: 2. Spotlighting and call recognition

Conduct nocturnal spotlighting along a 200 m transect using a 30 W or 50 W spotlight where that method is practicable.

Record animals seen or heard, the distance from the transect, time, weather, moon phase, wind, temperature and survey effort.

Search the upper canopy and inspect weak eyeshine carefully, because Squirrel Gliders reflect light poorly and can be confused with Sugar Gliders or other gliders.

Use call recognition as an additional detection method, recording the location and direction of any deep, resonant grunt.

Survey unit used in the CRA work: One person-hour spotlighting transect, 200 m long, with a 200 m by 50 m survey strip.

CRA detection result: Squirrel Gliders were recorded at 35 sites across 18 survey areas, mainly by spotlighting or call recognition.

  • Do not rely on vehicle spotlighting as the primary method, because roads and ridgelines bias the sample and Squirrel Gliders are less detectable by this method than some other gliders.
  • Repeat spotlighting and call surveys on separate nights where the project may remove suitable habitat, particularly where the first survey produces no detection.

Survey methodology: 3. Arboreal trapping, nest boxes and cameras

Use arboreal Elliott B or cage traps only where spotlighting and call recognition are inadequate, and obtain the required animal ethics approvals and wildlife permits before trapping.

Use 10 Elliott B or cage traps at a sampling site, place them 2 to 4 m above ground about 50 m apart in two parallel lines separated by 50 m, and operate them for four consecutive nights where the general mammal guideline applies.

Check traps early each morning, close them during the day, provide shelter, use an appropriate bait, and release animals promptly at the capture location unless an authorised relocation or veterinary response is required.

Consider nest boxes or camera traps as supplementary methods, not as the only method. The national guideline identifies nest boxes as potentially useful for Squirrel Gliders but notes that the technique requires further research.

General arboreal trapping effort: 10 traps per site for four nights, equalling 80 trap nights.

Relevant nest box height guidance: Medium-sized arboreal mammals weighing 100 to 270 g require boxes above 2 m; Squirrel Gliders weigh about 190 to 330 g, so placement should be confirmed by the project ecologist.

  • For areas over 5 ha, replicate trapping across representative habitat types and adjust the layout to the project area and animal welfare requirements.
  • Do not use small Elliott A traps for arboreal trapping because glider tails can be injured in the trap doors.
  • If nest boxes are used, deploy at least five boxes per hectare as a general threatened mammal guideline, use a narrow entrance suitable for a medium-sized glider, and plan at least two site visits.

Survey methodology: Minimum effort and reporting

  • Use a habitat assessment and hollow search followed by nocturnal spotlighting and call recognition as the minimum field approach for a project that may remove suitable Squirrel Glider habitat.
  • Add arboreal trapping, nest boxes or cameras where detection confidence is low, habitat is fragmented, the site is small relative to a home range, or clearing would remove hollow-bearing trees.
  • Survey in suitable weather and record conditions, effort, observers, equipment, GPS locations, habitat, animals detected and any uncertainty in identification.
  • Identify Squirrel Gliders separately from Sugar Gliders using size, markings, tail pattern and call, and obtain expert confirmation where identification is uncertain.
  • Submit confirmed records, including negative survey effort where required, to the relevant state wildlife database and provide the records to the project environmental officer and approval authority.
  • Retain photographs, call recordings, trap sheets, GPS data, habitat maps and the names and authorisations of all survey personnel.

Before habitat disturbance: Avoid and minimise impacts

Plan the work around the species' dependence on hollow-bearing trees, flowering food plants and connected canopy. Avoid treating an empty hollow or an undetected animal as evidence that the habitat is unused.

Home range: About 3 to 9 ha in coastal habitat and 3 to 4 ha in productive inland habitat, with reported values across studies of about 1 to 15 ha.

Den use: A group may use about 20 hollow trees over six weeks.

  • Retain mature and mixed-age eucalypts, hollow-bearing trees, stags, dead limbs, Acacia and Banksia shrubs, flowering food trees and dense understorey within the work area wherever practicable.
  • Retain connected tree cover between habitat patches, because Squirrel Gliders generally have limited ability to cross urban or agricultural land and commonly require cover within about 70 m.
  • Avoid removing isolated roadside trees, paddock trees and narrow vegetation strips without assessing their role as den, feeding or movement habitat.
  • Design access tracks, compounds, lighting and drainage to avoid severing canopy links and to reduce exposure to cats, foxes, dogs, traffic and barbed-wire fencing.
  • Use a project-specific exclusion or disturbance buffer around retained habitat and hollow-bearing trees. The Brisbane guidance identifies a 5 to 20 to 30 m major disturbance zone as a starting point for managing edge effects, subject to site assessment.

Before habitat disturbance: Approvals, timing and work planning

Breeding period: Usually April to November, with a peak in winter or spring.

Young in the nest: Pouch life is about 70 days, followed by about 40 to 50 days in the group nest.

  • Check the current Commonwealth and state conservation listings before works begin. The Squirrel Glider is not listed under the EPBC Act in the supplied material, but a referral may still be required if another protected matter is affected.
  • Confirm the relevant state permits, wildlife authorisations, animal ethics approvals and conditions for survey, trapping, handling, relocation, clearing and rehabilitation.
  • Schedule clearing to avoid the main breeding period where practicable. Breeding commonly occurs from April to November, with a peak in winter or spring, and young may remain in the nest after leaving the pouch.
  • Stage clearing so that retained habitat and escape routes remain available while the spotter catcher checks each work area.
  • Prepare a fauna management plan that identifies habitat to retain, survey results, daily controls, stop-work triggers, authorised personnel, relocation arrangements, veterinary contacts, reporting requirements and rehabilitation targets.

Before habitat disturbance: Pre-clearance preparation

  • Complete the approved pre-clearance survey shortly before works, including a day search for hollows and a night search for gliders.
  • Mark retained hollow-bearing trees, likely den trees, flowering food trees, canopy links, nest boxes, logs and other habitat features on plans and on the ground.
  • Install exclusion fencing or other clearly visible controls around retained habitat where machinery, spoil, vehicle movement or workers could cause indirect damage.
  • Brief operators and the spotter catcher on the marked no-go areas, access limits, lighting controls, reporting chain and immediate stop-work procedure.
  • Check trees scheduled for removal for hollows, leaf-lined nests, animals, dependent young and escape routes before felling.

During habitat disturbance: Daily controls and machinery interface

Use an active spotter catcher system throughout habitat disturbance. The spotter catcher must have authority to stop work and must be able to communicate directly with the machinery operator and supervisor.

  • Hold a daily pre-start briefing covering the approved clearing footprint, retained trees, exclusion zones, weather, equipment, spotter catcher locations and emergency contacts.
  • Inspect exclusion fencing, tree markings, access routes and retained habitat before machinery starts each day.
  • Keep the spotter catcher within effective viewing and communication range of the clearing face and stop machinery before the spotter catcher enters the exclusion zone.
  • Clear in stages from the retained habitat towards the already disturbed area where safe, allowing animals to move towards retained connected vegetation rather than into the machinery path.
  • Use low-speed machinery, avoid unnecessary night lighting and stop work when visibility, wind, smoke, rain or dust prevents a reliable fauna inspection.
  • Do not allow machinery to push, drag or crush retained hollow-bearing trees, logs, shrubs, nest boxes or canopy links.

During habitat disturbance: Habitat feature handling

  • Inspect each hollow-bearing tree immediately before removal and check cavities, fissures, branches and the ground beneath for animals, young, nests and injury risks.
  • Where approved and safe, lower hollow-bearing limbs or trees in a controlled manner rather than allowing them to fall freely, then leave the hollow section intact for inspection and salvage.
  • Retain suitable hollow sections, standing dead trees, logs and natural shelter in nearby retained habitat where this is safe and consistent with the approved fauna management plan.
  • Do not burn, chip or remove salvaged hollows, logs or nest material until the spotter catcher has confirmed that they are unoccupied.
  • Protect retained flowering trees, Acacia and Banksia shrubs, understorey and canopy connections from machinery, fire, soil compaction and stockpiling.
  • Manage erosion, sediment, dust, weeds and fire so that retained habitat and nearby refuge areas remain usable.

During habitat disturbance: Animal response, stop work and records

  • Stop work immediately if a Squirrel Glider, dependent young, occupied hollow, nest, injured animal or unidentified glider is found within or next to the disturbance area.
  • Allow an uninjured animal to move into nearby retained habitat where possible, and do not chase it, handle it or move it unless the authorised spotter catcher considers intervention necessary.
  • Only appropriately authorised and experienced personnel may capture, handle or relocate the animal, and handling must follow the permit, animal ethics approval and fauna management plan.
  • Relocate an animal only to suitable nearby retained habitat that provides connected canopy, hollows or approved nest boxes and access to food resources, as authorised by the project plan and relevant regulator.
  • Place an injured animal in a suitable secure container, keep it quiet and shaded, and transfer it promptly to an approved wildlife carer or veterinarian.
  • Record the date, time, exact location, condition, identification, photographs, action taken, release or treatment location, personnel involved and any permit number.
  • Resume work only after the spotter catcher and environmental officer confirm that the trigger has been resolved and the control measures are working.

After habitat disturbance: Close-out checks

Close out each work area with a documented fauna and habitat inspection. Retained habitat can remain unsuitable if hollows, canopy links, food plants or understorey are damaged after the main clearing activity.

  • Inspect the cleared footprint, tree bases, salvaged hollow sections, logs, nest boxes and adjoining retained vegetation for animals, young, nests and injured fauna before demobilising the spotter catcher.
  • Check that all approved no-go areas, buffers, retained trees and canopy connections remain intact and that no spoil, mulch, fencing or machinery has encroached on them.
  • Remove temporary hazards such as open trenches, unsecured pipes, wire, netting, waste and water containers, or make them fauna safe.
  • Complete a final sweep after the first period of rain, after tree removal and before the area is handed to the construction team or revegetation contractor.

After habitat disturbance: Monitoring and control maintenance

  • Monitor retained habitat, movement links, hollow trees, nest boxes, flowering food plants and signs of use at the frequency set in the fauna management plan.
  • Maintain exclusion fencing, fauna crossings, retained tree protection, lighting controls and predator controls for as long as construction activity could affect the species.
  • Investigate any road-killed or injured glider, loss of a hollow tree, failed canopy link or repeated animal movement into the work area and amend controls.
  • Use cameras, nest boxes, spotlighting or call recognition for post-work monitoring where the project has removed habitat or created a substantial edge.

After habitat disturbance: Reporting and offsets

  • Provide the regulator and approval holder with a completion report that compares actual impacts with the approved footprint and records all fauna observations, incidents, handling, relocations, injuries, deaths and corrective actions.
  • Submit confirmed species records and survey data to the relevant state wildlife database, using the required format and location accuracy.
  • Report any breach of an approval, unexpected clearing of habitat, animal death or failure of a fauna control under the project's incident procedure.
  • Apply any required offset, habitat security or restoration commitment under the relevant approval, and do not use an offset as a substitute for retaining suitable habitat on the project site.

Rehabilitation actions: Rebuild habitat structure and food resources

Rehabilitation should rebuild the features that limit Squirrel Glider persistence: hollow-bearing trees, connected canopy, flowering and exudate-producing plants, shrub cover and safe movement routes. Set measurable targets before planting or construction close-out.

Food items: Nectar, pollen, Acacia gum, eucalypt sap, honeydew, invertebrates and occasionally small vertebrates or bird eggs.

Nest sites: Tree hollows, including cavities with a small entrance and sufficient internal space for a group.

  • Plant locally appropriate eucalypts and other native trees that provide nectar, pollen and sap, together with Acacia or Banksia shrubs suited to the site's soil, rainfall and vegetation community.
  • Use a mixed-age planting design so that future recruitment of den trees, food trees and understorey is continuous rather than concentrated in one age class.
  • Reconnect retained vegetation with continuous or closely spaced tree cover, prioritising gaps that exceed the species' usual gliding distance of about 70 m.
  • Reinstate salvaged logs, hollow sections and suitable dead wood in stable locations within retained or rehabilitated habitat, after checking that they are not occupied.
  • Install approved nest boxes where natural hollows are absent or have been lost, using a species-suitable design and a monitoring plan rather than treating boxes as a permanent replacement for mature trees.

Rehabilitation actions: Protect movement routes and manage threats

  • Keep rehabilitated corridors free of barbed wire and other obstacles, and use fauna-friendly fencing where fencing is required.
  • Control feral Cats, Red Foxes, wild dogs, domestic pets and aggressive hollow competitors in accordance with permits and the site management plan.
  • Control weeds and grazing that suppress Acacia, Banksia and other shrub regeneration or reduce canopy recruitment.
  • Design drainage and wetland works so that they do not remove adjacent glider habitat, isolate tree cover or create open routes that increase predation risk.

Rehabilitation actions: Fire, monitoring and success measures

  • Use a fire regime that limits loss of hollow trees, food trees, shrub cover and important flowering resources, and coordinate burning with the site's ecological fire strategy.
  • Monitor survival and recruitment of planted eucalypts, Acacia and Banksia, retention of hollows and logs, canopy connection, nest box use, predator activity and weed cover.
  • Use nocturnal spotlighting, call recognition, cameras or nest box inspections to test whether Squirrel Gliders continue to use the rehabilitated area and movement links.
  • Set success measures for retained and rehabilitated habitat, including no unapproved loss of hollow-bearing trees, functioning canopy connections, surviving food plants, maintained refuge features and confirmed use or continued presence where monitoring is required.
  • Continue maintenance until the environmental officer and approval authority accept that the habitat, controls and monitoring targets have been met.

Sources