4.5.1.5 Greater glider (southern and central) – potential to occur The greater glider (southern and central) ( Petauroides volans) is listed as vulnerable under the EPBC Act and NC Act. The species is restricted to mature eucalypt forests and woodlands with an abundance of mature, hollow bearing trees (Andrews et al., 1994; Kavanagh, 2000; Eyre, 2004; Van der Ree et al., 2004; Vanderduys et al., 2012). The species has a specialist folivorous diet and displays seasonal food preferences (Kehl and Borsboom, 1984; Kavanagh and Lambert, 1990). As a result, the species requires access to forests with a diversity of tree species to provide a consistent food source throughout the year (Kavanagh, 1984). The species dens in large hollows in mature trees (Henry, 1984; Lindenmayer et al., 1991; Goldingay, 2012). The availability of mature, hollow-bearing trees is a limiting factor. The species has been found to be absent from forests with fewer than six hollow-bearing trees per hectare (Smith et al., 1994). The species has a relatively small home range, typically 1 – 4 ha (Henry 1984; Comport et al. 1996; Gibbons and Lindenmayer, 2002). Given the species’ limited capacity for dispersal, and reluctance to cross vegetation gaps, it is sensitive to habitat fragmentation (McCarthy and Lindenmayer, 1999). The nearest historical record of a greater glider (from 1881) is located approximately 5 km south of the project area (DETSI, 2025). However, given that the project area is connected to a large, continuous tract of habitat, with unknown availability of tree hollows, the species has the potential to occur within the project area. In the Brigalow Belt Bioregion, greater gliders typically require between 4 and 20 den trees per individual and are most commonly observed denning in Eucalyptus fibrosa , followed by E. moluccana and Corymbia citriodora (Eyre et al., 2022). Within the project area, C. citriodora is present in RE 11.12.6. Field surveys identified one hollow- bearing C. citriodora in this RE, featuring an opening approximately 15 cm in diameter. This hollow density falls short of the threshold required to support greater gliders. Despite this, REs 11.10.2, 11.10.4, and 11.12.6 within the project area support tree species associated with potentially suitable foraging habitat for greater gliders, including Syncarpia glomulifera, C. trachyphloia, and C. citriodora (Eyre et al., 2022) (Plate 4-13). While the area does not contain sufficient hollow-bearing trees to support denning, it may still provide suitable foraging and dispersal habitat. Therefore, the greater glider has the potential to occur within these REs for foraging and dispersal across the project area (Figure 4.10).
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