Australia’s own koala voiced the roar of T-rex in Jurassic Park, and kookaburras
laughing become the sound of chattering monkeys for movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark
and Tarzan. Weirdly, kookaburras even voiced Flipper in the 1960’s TV series, resolving the
director’s dilemma that dolphins are mute.
Australia has a well-earned reputation as the home of Hollywood’s weirdest and wildest
animal calls. There is one call, however, that has not yet made it to the big screen. It starts with a moan,
followed by a loud shriek(!) rounded off with a deep, throaty gurgle. Try turning that into a
dolphin! Once a common sound in the eastern ranges, the call of the yellow-bellied glider is
now a much rarer event. They are hanging on in our area, and we recently heard them at
Mountain Lagoon.
Yellow-bellied gliders live in small groups and glide (far more gracefully than Tarzan) across
large distances, keeping the group connected with their distinctive call. They seek sugars
from nectar and sap and will chew a V-shaped “tick of approval” into the bark of their
favourite trees, which they return to mercilessly. No one is sure why. This sugar-powered frenetic activity is quite different to the world’s largest gliding marsupial, the greater glider. This fluffy eared, long tailed “ewok” lives alone, in silence. Like koalas, they only eat eucalyptus leaves and as a result take things at a much slower pace. Both species are listed as endangered and face an uncertain future. Yellow-bellied gliders’ fussy eating habits make them particularly vulnerable to environmental change, and the fires of 2019-20 were a calamity for the greater glider, destroying much of their precious habitat. Greater gliders are also extremely sensitive to climate change, dying in large numbers during heat waves.
Tree planting is important, but it takes decades for new growth to provide adequate food
and habitat. Installing nest boxes helps in the short term, specifically boxes designed for
gliders that prevent forest bullies like possums from claiming them.
Check out these recent yellow-bellied glider calls at Wildside Sanctuary youtube channel,
and DIY nest box designs. Hollywood’s silver screen might be a fun showcase for our unique
national fauna, but nothing beats hearing them in the wild!
Book your stay at Wildside Sanctuary, and see how many famous sounds of our iconic koalas, kookaburras and gliders you can hear!
