SPECIES: Petaurus gracilis — Mahogany Glider
CLASSIFICATION: Endangered
Decked out with a built-in wing suit, these nocturnal beauties travel between trees by gliding - and can do this up to 60 metres at a time. Named the Mahogany Glider because of the mahogany-brown belly it has, they make a deep nasal-grunting noise when gliding at night, and their 'alarm' call is said to resemble a lawnmower! With no more than 1500 of these gorgeous gliders left on the planet, the Mahogany Glider is now confined to just a small region in southern Qld, populations connected by 'corridors', essentially a path of trees.
Mahogany Gliders are heavily reliant on trees, providing both habitat and food for these gliding possums. They prefer open forests, allowing for uniterrupted flight paths between trees. Unfortunately for these gliders in 2011, Cyclone Yasi severely impacted their habitat. The Mahogany Glider is also under threat from predation (including owls and feral cats), loss of habitat and land clearing.
After the events of Cyclone Yasi in 2011, FAME's funding enabled important recovery programs which included installing and monitoring nest boxes and feeding stations, crucial in saving the already fragile Mahogany Glider population from further desolation.
Our work is critically important and we have shown that together we can make a difference. Visit www.fame.org.au to donate or find out more.
Photo: Pfinge at French Wikipedia. - Transferred from fr.wikipedia to Commons., CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17...