Monitoring the Mahogany glider

High in the tree canopy north of Townsville lives one of North Queensland’s most elusive residents.

Found nowhere else in the world, the endangered mahogany glider occupies a narrow strip of country between Tully and Ollera Creek.

With large eyes, a long tail and a membrane that allows it to glide between trees, this small nocturnal marsupial can be difficult to find and monitor.

Camera traps at the site have, however, captured Mahogany gliders but photos like the one above are few and far between.

NQ Dry Tropics is helping improve knowledge of the species by establishing a new mahogany glider monitoring site through the four-year Empowering Communities to Conserve and Connect Threatened Vegetation in the Wet Tropics project.

The new site will provide an important opportunity to monitor glider activity and build a clearer picture of how the species uses habitat in the southern part of its range.

 Information gathered through monitoring can help guide future habitat restoration and management activities.

NQ Dry Tropics Project Officer Hayley Cook said establishing a monitoring site was an important step in supporting the mahogany glider’s long-term recovery.

“Mahogany gliders are nocturnal, elusive and spend much of their time high in the canopy, so gathering reliable information about where they are and how they are using the landscape can be challenging,” Hayley said.

“Establishing this monitoring site will help us build our knowledge of the local population and better understand how habitat management can support the species into the future.”

The broader project focuses on restoring three nationally-threatened ecological communities between the Paluma Range and the coast: broad leaf tea-tree woodlands, littoral rainforest and coastal vine thickets, often called beach scrub and lowland tropical rainforest.

Project Officer Charlotte Garner said these vegetation communities provided habitat for the mahogany glider, southern cassowary and many other native species.

 Healthy, connected vegetation also created natural corridors allowing wildlife to move between feeding areas, breeding sites and places of refuge.

“Habitat loss and fragmentation are among the greatest threats facing the mahogany glider,” Charlotte said.

“When woodland is divided into isolated patches,  it becomes difficult for gliders to reach the food, shelter and mates they need.

“Inappropriate fire, vegetation clearing, invasive weeds, grazing pressure, rubbish dumping and damaging vehicle access all place further pressure on their remaining habitat.”

Working alongside landholders and local communities, NQ Dry Tropics supports weed control and debris removal, improved fire and grazing management, property planning, workshops, signage and activities to discourage damage to natural areas.

Together, the new monitoring site and broader vegetation restoration work will improve knowledge of the mahogany glider while helping create healthier, better-connected habitat for this remarkable species.