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A squirrel glider in its nesting box

One giant leap…

An important aspect of the restoration of Winton Wetlands is the re-establishment of native species local to the Wetlands. The availability of hollows as shelter and nesting sites for threatened tree-dwelling mammal species is vital to their persistence and movement through the landscape.

Through the ‘That’s One Giant Leap’ project, funded by the Victorian State Government, the Friends of Winton Wetlands have been able to involve the community in very meaningful and innovative restoration activities at Winton Wetlands. Since 2014, over 100 nest boxes have been installed to provide supplementary habitat for tree-dwelling mammals, including the Squirrel Glider (Petaurus norfolcensis) and the Brush-tailed Phascogale (Phascogale tapoatafa.)

Since then, various activity of a range of species has been recorded within the nest boxes demonstrating the success of the project. Winton Wetlands and the Friends of Winton Wetlands are most pleased to confirm the recorded sighting of one of the two targeted species being the Squirrel Glider.

“Finding a Squirrel Glider using our nest boxes is the highlight of the Friends four-year nest box program so far. This and finding several families of young Yellow-footed Antechinus in an area previously populated with poor nesting hollows, provides the incentive to continue the program. We hope to extend the chain of nest boxes to continue encouraging wildlife to utilise the entire Wetlands and to create links to nearby woodland.  Well done to all those who have participated in construction, installation and monitoring,” said Geoff Barrow, Friends of Winton Wetlands volunteer and nest box monitoring manager.

Not only is this the first record of a Squirrel Glider since the onset of the project but also the first ever recorded sighting at the Winton Wetlands site, marking it as a very exciting and special event.

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