7 Facts about the greater glider

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Ever wanted to glide through the air? The wind in your hair, the moonlight guiding your way? Sounds like you want to be a greater glider, and we don’t blame you!

Found in the eucalyptus forests of eastern Australia and strictly nocturnal (unless startled or disturbed during the day), the greater glider is the largest gliding marsupial in the world and can range in colour from dark chocolate brown to almost entirely white.

There’s a lot to love about the greater glider, but here are seven things you might not know about them.

1. Their babies love to hitch a ride.

For the first three to four months of their lives, baby greater gliders stay in their mother’s pouch. As they grow, they go in and out of the pouch, ride on mum’s back or sometimes stay at home in the hollow until they’re around nine months old. Even then, they often still spend time with mum or their parents. They become sexually mature at around two years old.

2. They’re going places!

We think greater gliders are pretty great, but ironically, they aren’t the greatest at gliding! A 2026 study of southern greater gliders recorded a longest glide of just under 50 metres. Across the 41 glides measured, the average horizontal distance was 19 metres. They can change direction at 90-degree angles mid-flight, steering by using their long tails and altering the curvature of their gliding membranes. (Source: Australian National University, “Not the greatest glider: first study puts Australia’s biggest glider to the test”)

3. Their tail is longer than their body.

Greater gliders have tails longer than their bodies. An adult greater glider can be between 30 cm and 45 cm long, with its tail extending another 45 cm to 60 cm. Body and tail lengths are generally in proportion, so a smaller glider would also be expected to have a shorter tail.

4. They’re the strong silent type.

Greater gliders are completely silent and have no distinctive calls, and never chat with one another. The only sound they’ll make is a whoosh sound if they glide past you on a quiet night – which we think would sound pretty cool. Whoosh.

5. They’re resourceful.

Apart from using their patagium (or gliding membranes) to glide through the air, they also use them as a blanket to keep warm on cold nights. They wrap them around their bodies so they’re snug as a bug in a rug. The original Oodie.

6. They’re property tycoons!

These little marsupials can maintain up to 20 tree hollows that they sleep in, called dens, at any given time, gliding between each hollow. However, even though they like to have so many homes to choose from, this doesn’t mean they have a lot of choices. With bushfires and habitat destruction threatening their homes, this little property investor needs our help and attention more than ever.

7. Sadly, greater gliders are endangered.

Greater gliders were once common throughout the forests of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, but deforestation and climate change induced events threaten their survival. Their recent uplisting to Endangered means we need to take action now to save and protect this iconic species.

We need to save our trees and keep our forests standing. Our mature trees are irreplaceable, they store more carbon, support cooler climates, and provide irreplaceable habitat for endangered wildlife, like koalas and greater gliders. Add your name to thousands of voices calling to end native forest logging in Australia before it’s too late.