Monitoring Squirrel Glider population health

One of the main activities of Albury Conservation Company has been the Threatened Species Monitoring Program. Each year, this long-running program monitors the population of Squirrel Gliders in key areas around Albury and Wodonga. This valuable data provides insights into the health of the Squirrel Glider population allowing regulators and the community to identify impacts from threats such as urban development.

The Albury component of the program is generously sponsored by Albury City Council. Currently, there is no external funding for the Wodonga component. Albury Conservation Company is able to fund the 2026 monitoring in Victoria thanks to a generous donation. If you’d like to help us continue this program in the future, please consider making a donation here.

The need to monitor Squirrel Gliders

In June 2018, Albury Conservation Company started a monitoring program for the the Squirrel Glider (Petaurus norfolcensis) across Thurgoona/Wirlinga, the major urban growth area of Albury. Squirrel Gliders are a threatened species in NSW, listed as ‘vulnerable’. The species is listed as Endangered in Victoria. Thurgoona / Wirlinga contains a regionally significant population of Squirrel Gliders, however they face an uncertain future in Albury’s growth area. If we are not careful, they are at risk of becoming locally extinct.

Until we began the program, the surveying of gliders had been site-specific (e.g. a requirement of an individual development application), or opportunistic (e.g. nestbox checks). Hence we did not know whether the local glider population was increasing, stable or in decline. Our monitoring program aims to provide scientific evidence of the health of our local Squirrel Glider population, and to raise the alarm if a serious threat is detected at specific sites, allowing responsible stakeholders the opportunity to act. Before it is too late!

Funding

Albury Conservation Company initially funded the entire program, including advertising for and recruiting a wildlife ecologist (Dylan McWhinney, DM Ecological) in April 2018. In winter 2020, the monitoring program expanded into Wodonga. 48 sites were monitored in the first round and Squirrel Gliders were detected at 26% of the total sites.

Albury City Council awarded a contract to Albury Conservation Company to undertake Squirrel Glider monitoring until 2027. Our results are submitted to council each year and form part of their database of information.

We received philanthropic funding through The Ross Trust to expand the Squirrel Glider monitoring program into Wodonga. This initial seed funding has been completely exhausted now. Albury Conservation Company has funded the program to continue by utilising its own cash reserves. These are now getting low and without further funding, the Wodonga side of the program may have to be paused, possibly discontinued. If you’d like to help us continue this program in the future, please consider making a donation here.

Program Design

The program is based on a monitoring plan funded by Albury Conservation Company (with NSW Department of Industry – Lands), and produced by the Australian Research Centre for Urban Ecology in December 2016.

In early 2017 the plan was addended following a peer review conducted by Dr Damian Michael, then Director of Albury Conservation Company and Senior Research Fellow at Charles Sturt University.

The main tool being used to monitor for Squirrel Gliders are motion-sensing cameras. Albury Conservation Company uses 70 cameras in the program, purchased thanks to two grants from Wettenhall Environment Trust and public donations to our 2018 Edge Pledge campaign.

The cameras are placed at a variety of sites around Thurgoona / Wirlinga (Albury) and Leneva /Baranduda (Wodonga) to identify occupation in a range of habitats including urban, peri-urban, rural, riparian, remnant woodland, roadside reserves and revegetation.

Permits are obtained to undertake the research, including Animal Ethics approval, from Charles Sturt University and a wildlife research permit from NSW Government. Site access is negotiated with a variety of land owners, including the Albury Environmental Land network.

What are the results of the program so far?

Our program has now generated consistent and accurate Squirrel Glider data over a reasonable time scale of 8 years. Keeping in mind that we only have a snapshot of the Squirrel Glider population, what the data is starting to tell us is that:

• While glider detection rates fluctuate over seasons and years, the detection rate is stable and increasing slowly.

• Remnant vegetation retained in development areas is important to Squirrel Gliders. But revegetation also provides habitat value to the gliders.

Program Reports:

• Our latest Annual Report for 2025-26 can be viewed here. This updated report format draws upon 8 years of strategic monitoring of Squirrel Gliders by our ecologist Dylan McWhinney throughout Albury and Wodonga.

Program Funders:

We are deeply grateful to the following organisations for the funding they have provided:

Program Partners: 

For more information: 

• Contact our Executive Officer Chris Cook on 0408 388 141 or[email protected]
• Follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/alburyconservationco