G is for Greater Glider

Learn all about Australia's largest gliding possums and then draw them!

Hello beautiful people and welcome to Lesson 7 of ‘Aussie Animals’ - Greater Glider! I’m often shocked by how little people know about Australia’s animals. Of course, everyone knows about Kangaroos and Koalas… but what about an Antechinus or Dunnart? See a video of me talking about the Greater Glider here.

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Process Pictures

Process pictures showing how I drew the Greater Glider

Living in a country that’s caused the extinction of more animals than any other nation (see this ACF PDF), I feel a duty to spread awareness of these animals before they disappear forever (hopefully not).

In 2020, I illustrated an A-Z Book of Australian Animals packed with interesting facts and beautiful artwork to showcase the majesty of these creatures. My sister Acacia did lots of research (using her science background) and we both put together the writing. Check out the book here, they’re printed sustainably in Adelaide and I’m donating $5 from every book sold to the Bob Brown Foundation.

Today we’re looking at the Greater Glider, Australia’s largest gliding mammal. There are three different species of Greater Glider. The smallest grows only as big as a ringtail possum, while the largest can grow as big as a house cat! They have nice bushy fur and big ears, which makes them look bigger than they actually are. The coolest feature of the Greater Glider is the membrane attached between their wrists and ankles which allow them to glide on the breeze. Greater Gliders can glide up to 100 meters from tree to tree and can change direction mid-glide with great precision.

Greater Gliders live in old growth forests along the Eastern side of Australia from Victoria up to Queensland. They used to be much more widespread around Australia, but unfortunately their range has decreased significantly along with their population size.. This is primarily due to humans logging the old grown forests in which they live. In the past 20 years, Greater Glider population has decreased by 80% and these beautiful creatures are now listed as nationally endangered (see this ACF article).

I hate that I have to end every Australian Animal blog post with a list of things you can do to help keep these beautiful animals alive, but that is the sad reality. There really are some great things to do though (even if you have no money).

1. Sign this ACF petition for better global laws for nature (it literally takes two seconds).

2. Support the Great Forest National Park and other environmental organisations like Environment Victoria and Wilderness Australia.

3. You could consider donating to conservation charities like Bush Heritage Australia or the Bob Brown Foundation who help to conserve habitat. Don’t forget that I’m donating $5 from every one of my Australian Animal A-Z Books to the Bob Brown Foundation, so you could consider doing that too?! 😊

   There is so much more to know about the Greater Glider, why not learn more about them and other awesome animals in my Australian Animal A-Z Book? You can also buy a giclee print of the Greater Glider artwork here.

Well, that it for now - my take on the Greater Glider. If you have had an experience with a Greater Glider, I’d love to hear about it in the comments. Also, if you liked this blog post and want more interesting arty Australian flora/fauna content like this why not subscribe?

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With love and a dose of whimsy,

Zinia King