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Yellow-bellied Glider (Petaurus australis)

The Yellow-bellied Glider is a large, nocturnal, arboreal marsupial of mature eucalypt forests and woodlands in eastern and south-eastern Australia. It depends on large hollow-bearing trees, sap-feed trees and connected forest, so clearing, tree removal, fragmentation, fire and construction disturbance can affect individuals, family groups and den sites on project areas.

Conservation status

Commonwealth, EPBC Act 1999: Endangered.

Queensland, Nature Conservation Act 1992: Endangered.

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.

Australian Capital Territory, Nature Conservation Act 2014: Vulnerable.

Breeding season

Breeding timing varies with latitude, elevation and food availability. The calendar below is a practical south-eastern guide, not a substitute for local records. Queensland populations may breed outside the indicated peak period.

Use local breeding records, call activity, den observations and state survey requirements when setting clearing windows. The species may be present and dependent young may occur outside the peak months shown.

  • Breeding: Mating is generally recorded from August to December in Victoria. Timing varies across the range, and breeding may occur throughout the year in Queensland.
  • Young: Litter size is usually one and young remain associated with the family group. The supplied sources do not provide a reliable month-by-month period for pouch occupancy or dependence.
  • Movement and foraging: The species is active throughout the year, forages at night and may travel more than 2 km from its den. Family groups occupy large home ranges because food trees are dispersed and seasonally variable.
  • Highest clearing risk: Clearing can harm the species in every month through removal of dens and feeding trees. Risk is highest during the locally relevant breeding period and when dependent young are present, particularly August to December in Victoria.

Identification

The Yellow-bellied Glider is a large, long-tailed glider with greyish-brown upperparts, a dark dorsal stripe and a pale to yellow belly. It is most readily detected by its loud call, spotlighted activity in the canopy and distinctive sap-feeding scars on eucalypt trunks.

Adults have a head and body length of 240 to 310 mm and a long tail 380 to 470 mm in length. The tail is mostly black with grey edging near its base.

The upperparts are greyish-brown, with a black stripe running down the back and extending towards the tail. The belly is white to yellow, becoming more yellow with age. The gliding membrane extends from the wrist to the ankle, and the ears are large, pale and bare.

Identification: Sexes and similar gliders

Males are generally heavier than females. Males weigh 470 to 725 g and females weigh 435 to 660 g, while body length differs only slightly between the sexes.

The Wet Tropics form is typically smaller and lighter, may be darker on the back and usually has less distinctly yellow belly fur. This distinction is relevant where a project occurs in north-east Queensland.

Male mass: 470 to 725 g

Female mass: 435 to 660 g

Identification: Field signs and survey cues

The species is the most vocal of the Australian gliders. Its distinctive call begins with a high-pitched shriek and subsides into a throaty rattle. Calls may be audible from about 400 to 500 m.

Sap-feed trees have repeated, shallow V-shaped or sometimes flatter incisions in the trunk or branches. Incisions may be about 12 cm long, 1 to 5 cm wide and up to 1 cm deep, although their size and shape vary. Dried sap may be visible and chewed bark may accumulate at the tree base.

Claw scratches on trunks and around hollow-bearing trees can indicate arboreal mammal activity, but scratches are not specific to this species. Den use should be confirmed with night spotlighting, call detection or call playback where appropriate.

Single-night detection probability: Estimated at 0.41, with a reported range of 0.34 to 0.49; other studies reported 0.28 to 0.71 depending on season.

Suggested detection effort: Six nights of spotlighting for a 0.95 probability of detection.

  • Mark and map all trees with fresh or repeated V-shaped sap scars before clearing.
  • Use spotlighting, call detection or call playback with stagwatching to confirm whether gliders are using the area.
  • The recommended call and spotlight procedure includes an initial 10 to 15 minute listening period, a 10 minute spotlight search, intermittent playback for 5 minutes, a 10 minute response period and a further 10 minute spotlight inspection.
  • Survey the same locations on two separate nights where the species is not detected on the first night.

Distribution: National range

The south-eastern Yellow-bellied Glider has a widespread but patchy distribution from south-eastern Queensland through New South Wales and Victoria to far south-eastern South Australia. It is most consistently associated with eastern forest systems, while western Victorian and South Australian occurrences are isolated and require particular attention during impact assessment.

In Queensland, the range is mainly coastal, extending south from north of Mackay to the Queensland and New South Wales border. Isolated inland populations occur in the Blackdown and Carnarvon Ranges.

In New South Wales, the species is concentrated in forests along the eastern coast, from the Queensland border to the Victorian border, with some inland records on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range.

In Victoria, most records are in the eastern part of the state, from the east coast to Melbourne and Port Phillip Bay. Isolated western populations occur around Edenhope, Portland, Timboon and the Otway Ranges.

In South Australia, the species was formerly more widespread. There have been no known records since 2010 and it may now be extinct in that state.

Altitude: Sea level to about 1,400 m above sea level.

State and territory records: Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and historically south-eastern South Australia.

Distribution: Bioregions and important subpopulations

The species occurs across a broad set of eastern Australian bioregions, including the NSW North Coast, Sydney Basin, South East Corner, South Eastern Highlands, New England Tablelands, South Eastern Queensland, Brigalow Belt South and the Australian Alps.

The western Victorian and South Australian subpopulations are isolated from the main distribution. They may have distinct genetic characteristics and should be treated as separate management units until their status is better resolved.

Within project areas, a continuous forest patch may still support only one family group because groups occupy large, exclusive home ranges and occur at low density.

Typical density: About 0.05 to 0.14 individuals per hectare in suitable habitat.

Suggested viable subpopulation area: About 180 to 350 km2 of forest, with at least 150 glider groups suggested to give a 0.95 probability of persistence over 100 years.

Distribution: Population trend

A single national population estimate was not provided in the supplied sources. Available information indicates a patchy distribution, local declines and continuing pressure from habitat loss, fragmentation, logging, inappropriate fire regimes and the 2019 to 2020 bushfires.

Distribution has declined by up to 50 percent in some areas of former habitat. The isolated western Victorian and South Australian populations are of particular concern because they are separated from the main range.

Habitat: Forest types

Yellow-bellied Gliders use tall, mature eucalypt forests and woodlands where food trees, den hollows and movement routes occur together. Habitat quality depends on forest age, tree species composition, hollow availability and the continuity of the forest patch.

The species occurs in wet and dry sclerophyll forests, tall open forests, moist coastal gullies, creek flats, dry escarpment forests and tall montane forests.

It generally prefers large patches of mature or old-growth forest with a high proportion of smooth-barked eucalypts and a mixture of tree species that provides food throughout the year.

Forests dominated by only one or two tree species are less likely to provide the required year-round food supply.

Elevation range: Sea level to about 1,400 m.

Preferred tree composition: Floristically diverse eucalypt forest, particularly with winter-flowering and smooth-barked eucalypts.

Habitat: Structural features

Suitable habitat contains large, mature trees with hollows, sap-feed trees, winter-flowering eucalypts and loose or shedding bark that supports insect prey.

Large contiguous forest areas are needed because family groups defend large home ranges and food trees are dispersed and variable through time and space.

Where forest is fragmented, connected habitat corridors can support movement between patches. The species has low dispersal ability across gaps wider than its maximum gliding distance of about 120 m.

  • Retain all known den trees and recruitment trees that may form hollows in future.
  • Retain sap-feed trees, including trees with old or fresh incisions.
  • Maintain canopy and forest connections between habitat patches.
  • Avoid creating gaps wider than the species' gliding distance where movement corridors are required.

Foraging habitat: Diet

The Yellow-bellied Glider is an exudate-feeding mammal that travels through the canopy at night to exploit dispersed and seasonally variable food resources. Sap trees are often the most useful field indicator of feeding habitat.

Sap is an important part of the diet, especially when other food is limited. Gliders make V-shaped cuts and vertical furrows with their lower incisors to obtain sap from trunks and branches.

Other foods include nectar, pollen, manna, honeydew, insect exudates, insects and spiders. Loose bark on smooth-barked eucalypts provides shelter for insect prey.

Sap trees vary between sites. At least 37 sap-tree species have been recorded in New South Wales, and grey gums are important sap trees in southern Queensland.

  • Search for repeated V-shaped or flat sap scars on smooth-barked eucalypts and other suitable feed trees.
  • Retain trees with recent, open incisions and trees with older scars that form part of a local feeding network.
  • Retain winter-flowering eucalypts and mixed tree species that provide nectar, pollen, manna and insect prey through different seasons.

Foraging habitat: Foraging range and behaviour

Gliders are active for most of the night and devote about 90 percent of time outside the den to foraging-related activity. They may travel more than 2 km from a den while foraging.

Food trees are dispersed, so a family group's feeding habitat can extend well beyond the trees immediately surrounding a den. A home range is usually about 50 to 60 ha, with a plausible range of 25 to 85 ha.

The species often forages alone within the group range, but several animals may gather where sap or other food is concentrated.

Typical home range: About 50 to 60 ha.

Plausible home-range range: 25 to 85 ha.

Maximum gliding distance: About 120 m.

Breeding habitat: Breeding biology

Breeding occurs within socially bonded family groups that use large hollow-bearing trees and nearby feeding habitat. Timing varies across the broad range, so project controls should not assume a single breeding season for every region.

The species usually forms a monogamous pair. Group structure varies with food availability and region, and groups may include dependent young and other family members.

Litter size is usually one. Young remain associated with the family group, and suitable den hollows are needed for shelter and breeding.

Breeding season: Seasonal, with timing varying across the range. Mating is generally recorded from August to December in Victoria, while breeding may occur throughout the year in Queensland.

Litter size: Usually one young.

Sexual maturity: About 2 years of age.

Lifespan: At least 6 years in the wild.

Generation length: 4 to 5 years.

Gestation or pouch period: Not specified in the supplied documents.

Breeding habitat: Breeding habitat features

Breeding habitat includes living, large hollow-bearing eucalypts within a connected forest area that also contains sap trees and flowering trees. Hollow-bearing trees are usually large and old, and the species is uncommon or absent in young, logged stands.

The broad habitat needed to support breeding includes the occupied home range, adjoining suitable forest for recruitment and range extension, and corridors that allow movement between forest patches.

  • Retain hollow-bearing trees, including trees used as dens and nearby future hollow-bearing trees.
  • Avoid isolating a den tree from its feeding trees or from the surrounding canopy.
  • Plan clearing outside the locally relevant breeding period where practicable, and treat known den trees as occupied unless survey evidence demonstrates otherwise.

Sheltering habitat: Den trees and hollows

During the day, Yellow-bellied Gliders shelter in hollows in large, old trees, usually living smooth-barked eucalypts. Den trees are an essential project consideration because hollows take many decades to form and cannot be replaced quickly after clearing or fire.

Gliders usually den in hollows in large living trees, often more than 1 m in diameter. Trees used as dens are primarily living smooth-barked eucalypts, while standing dead trees account for only about 2 percent of den trees in some forest types.

Trees generally do not begin producing hollows until they reach at least 50 cm diameter at breast height. Such trees are usually more than 100 years old.

Family groups may use more than one den tree within their home range, depending on food availability, season and breeding.

Typical den-tree size: Often more than 1 m diameter.

Hollow formation threshold: Trees generally begin producing hollows at about 50 cm diameter at breast height.

Approximate tree age at 50 cm diameter: Usually more than 100 years.

  • Identify and map all hollow-bearing trees before clearing or construction.
  • Inspect trees with large hollows, trunk cavities, entry scars or repeated climbing scratches as potential den trees.
  • Retain den trees and maintain surrounding forest and canopy connections wherever practicable.
  • Do not rely on replacement nest boxes as an equivalent substitute for mature hollow-bearing trees, because use of artificial hollows remains uncertain for this species.

Sheltering habitat: Daytime refuge and project controls

The species is nocturnal, so individuals are usually in dens during daytime clearing operations. Daytime work can therefore directly affect animals sheltering in hollow-bearing trees even when night surveys record no activity.

No ground burrow, nest scrape or specific ground-cover refuge is described in the supplied sources. Detection and protection effort should focus on tree hollows, sap trees, canopy connections and confirmed den trees.

  • Use a qualified fauna spotter catcher for any approved removal of potential den trees.
  • Where clearing cannot avoid a hollow-bearing tree, inspect and manage the tree in accordance with the approved fauna management plan and relevant state requirements.
  • Treat trees with recent sap scars as feeding habitat even where no den hollow is present.

Threats: Clearing and fragmentation

The main risks are the loss and fragmentation of mature forest, removal of hollow-bearing and sap-feed trees, inappropriate fire and logging. On development sites, risk is highest where clearing removes den trees, breaks canopy connections or removes several feeding trees from a family group's home range.

Clearing removes den trees, sap trees, flowering trees and the loose bark habitat used by insect prey. Fragmentation separates family groups from feeding areas and restricts movement between habitat patches.

The species has low dispersal capability across gaps wider than about 120 m. Small cleared areas can therefore have effects beyond the direct footprint when they interrupt canopy connections or isolate a home range.

  • Avoid clearing mature and old-growth eucalypt forest containing hollow-bearing trees and sap-feed trees.
  • Retain corridors between habitat patches and minimise the width of canopy gaps.
  • Map the wider group of sap trees and den trees, not only the trees inside the construction footprint.
  • Apply a 50 m exclusion zone around trees used as dens where the relevant NSW guidance applies.

Threats: Fire and logging

The 2019 to 2020 bushfires caused habitat destruction and population reduction in the south-eastern form. Fire can kill large living hollow-bearing trees, which are especially difficult to replace.

Logging and young regrowth stands reduce the density of large trees and suitable hollows. The species is uncommon or absent in young, logged stands.

  • Retain surviving hollow-bearing trees and mature sap trees after fire.
  • Protect unburnt mature forest and areas that can support recovery and recruitment.
  • Avoid fire regimes that simplify forest structure or remove the mature trees needed for dens and feeding.

Threats: Predators, roads and other project risks

Foxes and feral cats are identified as predators of Yellow-bellied Gliders. Predation risk may increase where clearing, roads or construction create disturbed edges and movement routes.

The supplied sources do not quantify road mortality, disease or hydrology change for this species. These risks should still be assessed where a project introduces roads, traffic, artificial lighting, altered drainage or increased access to occupied forest.

Barbed wire entanglement is identified as a minor threat for the Wet Tropics form and may be relevant to glider habitat where fencing is installed or retained.

  • Keep construction lighting directed away from retained forest and known den or feeding trees.
  • Use fauna-friendly fencing where fencing is required near occupied habitat, and remove redundant barbed wire.
  • Control access by feral cats and foxes where project works increase predator access to retained habitat.
  • Record any injured or dead gliders, suspected road strikes or entanglements and report them through the project fauna incident process.

Survey methodology: 1. Diurnal habitat and sign searches

Survey the Yellow-bellied Glider in suitable mature eucalypt forest, with particular attention to hollow-bearing trees, sap-feed trees, winter-flowering eucalypts and connected forest patches. Use more than one detection method because detection varies with season and a social group may occupy a large home range.

Before night surveys, inspect the subject site and adjoining habitat for large mature trees, hollows, sap-feed trees, smooth-barked eucalypts, loose bark, scratches and other signs of arboreal activity.

Yellow-bellied Gliders make distinctive shallow V-shaped or flat incisions in tree trunks and branches to obtain sap. Mark trees with feeding scars on a map and in the field, and target them for night surveys.

Do not restrict the search to obvious hollows or one tree species. The species uses a range of sap trees, and not all hollows are visible from the ground.

Typical home range: About 50 to 60 hectares, with a plausible range of 25 to 85 hectares.

Typical group size: Two to six animals, usually three to four.

Typical density: About 0.05 to 0.14 individuals per hectare in suitable habitat.

  • Record the location, tree species where identifiable, condition and approximate size of each sap-feed tree and hollow-bearing tree.
  • Inspect mature forest containing a mix of eucalypt species, especially smooth-barked and winter-flowering eucalypts.
  • Map adjoining suitable habitat and likely movement routes because the species has low dispersal capability across gaps greater than its maximum gliding distance of about 120 metres.

Survey methodology: 2. Spotlighting and stagwatching

Conduct spotlighting after dark along mapped transects that sample mature forest, sap-feed trees, den trees and likely movement routes.

The species is nocturnal and spends about 90 percent of its time outside the den on foraging-related activities. Its loud shrieking call may be audible at about 500 metres, but visual surveys can overestimate group size if transects are too close together or observers remain too long within one group’s home range.

Use short, spatially separated survey sections and record the direction and timing of calls and sightings so that the same animals are not counted more than once.

Estimated detection probability per night: 0.41, with a reported range of 0.34 to 0.49; another study reported 0.28 to 0.71 depending partly on season.

Recommended effort for 0.95 detection probability: Six nights of spotlighting.

Maximum gliding distance: About 120 metres.

  • Use a hand-held spotlight or night scope and remain quiet while watching likely den or feed trees.
  • Where a stagwatch is used, watch the potential shelter site or habitat resource for at least one hour, or longer where justified by site conditions.
  • For the south-eastern subspecies, plan up to six nights of spotlighting where a 0.95 probability of detection is required.
  • Treat one night as insufficient evidence of absence, particularly where the season, weather, habitat structure or survey access reduces detection.

Survey methodology: 3. Call detection and playback

Use passive call detection in suitable habitat and combine it with spotlighting or stagwatching. The Yellow-bellied Glider is highly vocal, and responses can help locate animals that are difficult to see in dense canopy.

The national survey guideline gives a call detection and playback method for the fluffy glider, the Wet Tropics subspecies. Apply that method directly only where the target taxon and approval conditions match the guideline, and use the same principles as supporting evidence for the south-eastern subspecies.

Guideline survey unit: Two sites per stratification unit, up to 200 hectares.

Guideline replication: Two separate nights at each site if the animal is not detected on the first night.

Call survey sequence: 10 to 15 minute initial listen, 10 minute spotlight, 5 minute intermittent playback, 10 minute response period and 10 minute immediate-area spotlight.

  • At each survey location, listen initially for 10 to 15 minutes, conduct a 10 minute spotlight search, broadcast recorded calls intermittently for five minutes, listen for a response for 10 minutes, and inspect the immediate area with a spotlight for a further 10 minutes.
  • For the guideline’s standard method, survey two sites per stratification unit up to 200 hectares and repeat each site on two separate nights.
  • If a glider is not detected during the initial stagwatch, listen quietly for about 20 minutes, then use a two minute call broadcast followed by three minutes of listening, and spotlight the surrounding trees for animals attracted without calling.
  • Repeat the survey on a second night if the target is not detected on the first night.
  • Use call playback sparingly and check animal ethics and wildlife approval requirements before broadcasting calls, particularly during the breeding period.

Survey methodology: 4. Trapping and supplementary detection

Cage trapping has been used for population estimates, but recent studies have generally favoured night calls and spotlighting. Use trapping only where it is justified, approved and undertaken by appropriately authorised personnel.

Consider supplementary methods such as nest boxes, arboreal hair sampling or arboreal cage trapping only where the survey design and animal ethics approval support them. These methods should not replace targeted night surveys for a species that is readily detected by calls and spotlighting.

  • Do not infer absence from a failed trapping attempt because the species has large home ranges, low densities and variable detection.
  • Use nest boxes as a supplementary detection method only with species-appropriate design and a clear inspection and animal welfare protocol.
  • Record all trap locations, trap nights, weather, bait or lure, inspection times, captures, non-target fauna and any signs of heat or animal stress.
  • Close or suspend trapping during conditions that could expose animals to heat, cold, rain or other avoidable welfare risks.

Survey methodology: Minimum effort and reporting

  • Survey all mapped mature forest, sap-feed trees, hollow-bearing trees and retained habitat that may be affected directly or indirectly by the works.
  • Use at least two separate night surveys where the species is not detected on the first survey, and use six nights where the project requires a 0.95 detection probability for the south-eastern subspecies.
  • Report survey dates, start and finish times, weather, moon or visibility conditions, observers, transect lengths, survey areas, methods, playback details, effort, detections and limitations.
  • Map every observation, call location, sap-feed tree, den tree and movement corridor, and distinguish confirmed records from inferred or predicted habitat.
  • Submit confirmed records and relevant negative survey results to the wildlife records database or threatened species database used by the relevant state or territory agency.
  • Check the current taxon and legal status before finalising the survey design because the documents distinguish the south-eastern and Wet Tropics forms and government profiles may not display the same listing treatment.

Before habitat disturbance: Avoid and minimise habitat loss

Avoid clearing mature forest wherever practicable. The species depends on large, connected forest patches with mature hollow-bearing trees, sap-feed trees and a range of flowering and insect resources.

Retain large contiguous areas of floristically diverse eucalypt forest that can support viable groups. The species’ large home ranges mean that retaining isolated individual trees without surrounding forest may not maintain habitat function.

Prioritise retention of living hollow-bearing trees, mature recruitment trees, known den trees, active and recent sap-feed trees, winter-flowering eucalypts, smooth-barked eucalypts and trees with loose bark that support insect prey.

Den tree feature: Large old trees, usually living trees with hollows; trees used as dens may be more than one metre in diameter.

Hollow formation threshold: Hollows generally begin forming when trees reach about 50 centimetres diameter at breast height, commonly at more than 100 years of age.

Viable forest scale cited in the advice: About 180 to 350 square kilometres for a viable subpopulation, with at least 150 glider groups suggested for a 0.95 probability of persistence over 100 years.

  • Avoid clearing known occupied habitat and forest patches that connect occupied groups.
  • Retain corridors and stepping stones between habitat patches, avoiding gaps wider than the species’ known gliding capability where practicable.
  • Retain sap-feed trees with recent incisions, including trees that may not be the largest trees on the site.
  • Design the project footprint to avoid old-growth and mature forest before considering compensatory measures.

Before habitat disturbance: Approvals and work planning

Confirm the current EPBC Act status of the relevant taxon and whether the action is likely to have a significant impact on listed Yellow-bellied Glider habitat or individuals. Obtain an EPBC referral or approval where required.

Check state and territory threatened species legislation, clearing controls, fauna handling licences, scientific licences, animal ethics requirements and wildlife rehabilitation arrangements before work starts.

Prepare a fauna management plan that identifies habitat to retain, pre-clearance methods, exclusion areas, fauna spotter catcher responsibilities, stop-work triggers, rescue arrangements and reporting requirements.

  • Use the state or territory listing and species database for the project jurisdiction, and confirm whether the record is for the south-eastern or Wet Tropics form.
  • Stage clearing so that retained habitat remains connected and animals are not trapped between active work areas.
  • Schedule noisy or high-risk works outside periods of known local breeding activity where project approvals and ecological advice identify such a restriction.
  • Brief machine operators, supervisors and fauna spotter catchers on the approved exclusion zones and stop-work process.

Before habitat disturbance: Pre-clearance preparation

Complete a pre-clearance inspection of the approved footprint and a buffer around it. Locate hollows, den trees, sap-feed trees, logs, fallen timber, nest boxes, access routes and other habitat features.

Mark no-go trees and exclusion areas clearly enough to be seen by machinery operators and ground crews. Use the project’s approved buffer distances and any additional distances required by the relevant approval or permit.

  • Inspect and mark trees with recent or historic V-shaped sap incisions before clearing.
  • Map hollows and trees that could be used for daytime shelter, including trees without obvious ground-visible hollows.
  • Install exclusion fencing where it can prevent machinery, vehicles and people entering retained habitat without creating a barrier to animal movement.
  • Confirm that a licensed or otherwise authorised fauna spotter catcher is available during all clearing that could affect habitat.
  • Check that transport containers, first aid materials, contact details for a veterinarian and wildlife carer, and release sites in nearby retained habitat are ready before clearing begins.

During habitat disturbance: Clearing controls and spotter coordination

Use a controlled, staged clearing process. A fauna spotter catcher must be able to stop machinery before an animal, den tree or other habitat feature is damaged.

The fauna spotter catcher should inspect the next work area before machinery enters it and remain in communication with the machine operator and site supervisor.

Clear in small stages towards retained habitat so that animals have an opportunity to move away from machinery, while avoiding pushing animals into roads, active work zones or isolated trees.

Use a spotter catcher who is authorised for the species and activity under the relevant state or territory requirements. Do not direct untrained workers to capture, restrain or release the animal.

  • Stop machinery immediately when the spotter catcher calls stop, loses sight of an animal, identifies an unapproved hollow or finds an unexpected den, sap-feed tree or connected habitat feature.
  • Maintain exclusion zones around retained trees, logs and habitat until the spotter catcher confirms that the area is clear or the feature has been managed under the fauna plan.
  • Keep workers, vehicles and dogs away from retained habitat and release sites.
  • Avoid unnecessary night works in occupied habitat because the species is nocturnal and may be foraging outside its den.

During habitat disturbance: Habitat feature management

Do not fell a hollow-bearing or known den tree until the spotter catcher and ecological supervisor have checked it and the approval allows removal. Living hollow-bearing trees are a major habitat resource and are difficult to replace because suitable hollows take many decades to form.

Protect active and recent sap-feed trees from damage. Their scars are evidence of use and the tree may provide a recurring food resource.

Retain fallen timber and loose bark where safe and consistent with the approved clearing footprint because these features support insect prey and shelter resources.

  • Use the approved hollow-tree procedure for any tree containing hollows, including staged or controlled felling, a ground exclusion zone and inspection of the felled tree before cutting or removal.
  • Place any salvaged hollow logs, nest boxes or other approved habitat structures in nearby retained habitat under the direction of the fauna specialist.
  • Do not fill hollows, burn habitat piles or remove fallen timber from retained habitat unless the fauna plan and approval specifically allow it.
  • Treat open water, drainage lines and wet forest edges as retained habitat where they form part of the surrounding eucalypt forest, even though the species is not a wetland specialist.

During habitat disturbance: Animal handling, rescue and stop-work triggers

If a Yellow-bellied Glider is found, stop work in the immediate area and allow the authorised fauna spotter catcher to assess it. Do not chase, grab or handle it unless capture is necessary for welfare or approved relocation.

Relocate an uninjured animal only to nearby retained habitat that is suitable, connected and within the animal’s local area, following the fauna management plan and permit conditions. Avoid separating dependent young or disrupting a family group.

Take an injured, heat-stressed or otherwise compromised animal to the nominated veterinarian or licensed wildlife carer as soon as practicable, and record the transfer.

  • Stop work if an animal is located in the clearing footprint, if a den or hollow is found unexpectedly, if an animal is injured, or if the approved exclusion zone cannot be maintained.
  • Stop work if clearing would sever a mapped corridor or leave an animal in an isolated patch that was not assessed in the fauna plan.
  • Use a ventilated, secure transport container and minimise handling, noise, heat and exposure time.
  • Do not release an animal into unsuitable young forest, an exposed clearing or habitat occupied by a conflicting family group.
  • Record the animal’s location, condition, identification if possible, capture and release times, handler, destination, photographs where permitted, and any treatment or mortality.

During habitat disturbance: Daily records and incident response

Maintain a daily clearing log that links fauna observations and habitat features to the relevant work area and machinery activity.

Report injuries, deaths, unapproved clearing, damage to marked trees and failed exclusion controls to the site supervisor and environmental manager immediately.

  • Record cleared area, retained area, tree and hollow numbers, sap-feed trees affected, weather, personnel, start and finish times, stop-work events and outcomes.
  • Notify the relevant regulator, approval holder and wildlife authority within the time required by the approval or permit for any reportable incident.
  • Review the clearing method after each incident and amend staging, exclusion zones or supervision before work resumes.

After habitat disturbance: Post-clearance inspection

After clearing, confirm that retained habitat and fauna controls are functioning. The aim is to prevent delayed mortality, retain connected habitat and detect whether the project has reduced use of the site.

Complete a systematic inspection of the cleared area, retained edges and any habitat piles or felled trees before the area is handed to construction crews.

Check for injured or trapped gliders, damaged hollows, occupied logs, exposed animals and access points where animals could enter excavations, buildings or machinery.

  • Inspect felled hollow-bearing trees and logs under the approved fauna procedure before cutting, chipping, burning or removing them.
  • Recheck retained sap-feed trees and den trees for machinery damage, root-zone disturbance and loss of access to surrounding forest.
  • Remove or secure hazards such as open trenches, pipes, pits and uncovered tanks at the end of each work period.
  • Keep exclusion fencing and signs in place until the environmental manager confirms that the risk has ended.

After habitat disturbance: Monitoring and reporting

Monitor retained habitat and nearby connected forest using repeat night surveys, spotlighting and call detection where the project may have affected a known group or movement route.

Use the same survey locations and methods where practicable so that changes in detections can be interpreted against the pre-clearing results.

Suggested detection benchmark from the survey guidance: Six spotlighting nights can provide a 0.95 probability of detection for the south-eastern subspecies when the method and site conditions are suitable.

  • Inspect known sap-feed trees and den trees for fresh use and record new scars, calls, sightings and evidence of movement.
  • Report project records, rescued animals, mortality, habitat loss, restoration actions and monitoring results to the approval holder and relevant state or territory wildlife database.
  • Keep survey data, photographs, maps, permits, handling records and incident reports in the project environmental record.
  • Review monitoring results with the ecologist and regulator where detections decline, animals are found injured, or retained habitat becomes isolated.

After habitat disturbance: Offsets and ongoing controls

Apply the avoid and minimise hierarchy before considering an offset. An offset should not be used as a substitute for retaining occupied mature forest, hollow-bearing trees, sap-feed trees and habitat connectivity.

Where an offset or other compensatory measure is required, ensure that it protects habitat with the same key resources and supports a viable local or connected population.

  • Maintain weed, fire, access, erosion and predator controls within retained and offset habitat.
  • Protect future hollow-bearing trees as recruitment trees, not only currently hollow-bearing trees.
  • Reinspect retained habitat after major construction stages and after severe fire, storm or other disturbance.

Rehabilitation actions: Rebuild food and den resources

Rehabilitation should rebuild mature eucalypt forest structure, food resources, den opportunities and connections between habitat patches. It will not quickly replace old trees or hollows, so existing mature trees must be retained wherever possible.

Plant locally appropriate, diverse eucalypt communities that reflect the surrounding wet or dry sclerophyll forest and provide flowering, sap, manna, honeydew, bark and insect resources through the year.

Include smooth-barked and winter-flowering eucalypts where they are appropriate to the local vegetation community, and retain existing sap-feed trees rather than relying only on new plantings.

Protect large mature trees and establish recruitment trees for future hollows. Trees generally need to exceed about 50 centimetres diameter at breast height before hollows begin forming, and suitable trees are often more than 100 years old.

Key food resources: Sap, nectar, pollen, manna, honeydew, insect exudates, insects and spiders.

Den resource: Large old trees with hollows, usually living smooth-barked eucalypts.

Rehabilitation limitation: Artificial nest boxes may be used, but their suitability for this species remains uncertain, although individuals have been recorded using nest boxes.

  • Use local provenance species selected with the project ecologist and relevant land manager; do not use a generic planting list across the full range of the species.
  • Maintain a mixed eucalypt structure rather than planting a single tree species across the site.
  • Reinstate salvaged hollow logs, suitable nest boxes or other approved den structures where natural hollows were lost, with location, design and inspection directed by a qualified fauna ecologist.
  • Retain loose bark, fallen timber and leaf litter where fire safety and weed controls allow.

Rehabilitation actions: Restore connectivity and site structure

Reconnect retained forest patches with continuous or closely spaced mature and regenerating vegetation. The species has low dispersal capability across spaces larger than about 120 metres.

Use plantings and retained trees to reduce the width of cleared gaps and provide movement routes between denning and feeding areas.

  • Prioritise connections between known or recently occupied patches, isolated western Victorian or South Australian management units, and nearby habitat with suitable hollow-bearing and sap-feed trees.
  • Do not count narrow plantings as functional habitat until they provide suitable cover, tree resources and a safe connection confirmed by monitoring.
  • Control weeds that suppress eucalypt regeneration or alter the structure of the forest floor and understorey.
  • Manage feral cats and foxes where they are identified as a project or local threat, using approved control programs.

Rehabilitation actions: Fire, grazing and restoration monitoring

Develop fire management with the land manager and fire authority so that fire regimes maintain mature trees, hollows, sap-feed trees, floristic diversity and a supply of future den trees.

Avoid fire or fuel treatment that removes the mature trees and feed-tree diversity on which the species depends. The effect of fire can be particularly harmful where it kills living hollow-bearing trees.

Monitoring indicators: Tree survival and recruitment, retained hollow-bearing trees, sap-feed scars, calls, spotlight records, den or nest-box use, weed cover and habitat connectivity.

  • Monitor planted tree survival, recruitment, weed cover, hollow and nest-box use, sap-feed scars, calls, spotlight detections and connectivity at agreed intervals.
  • Use pre-clearance data as the baseline and set success measures for survival, canopy development, protection of mature trees, persistence or return of sap-feeding activity and continued use of connected habitat.
  • Inspect nest boxes and salvaged hollows only under an approved wildlife monitoring procedure, and record any use by the target species or non-target fauna.
  • Review grazing, fire and predator controls when monitoring shows poor regeneration, loss of sap-feed trees, declining detections or repeated fauna injury.

Sources