Big breeding success for a tiny flyer at Taronga Zoo

Sydney’s Taronga Zoo is celebrating the birth of seven tiny Feathertail Glider joeys who can already be seen scampering around in their Australian Nightlife exhibit.

The juvenile gliders are a grey colour so keen-eyed visitors will be able to see them scurry amongst the larger and browner-coloured adults. The Feathertail Glider is the smallest of all glider species, weighing just 15 grams and growing to a maximum of 8cm.

The Gliders are named after their long tail that is fringed with stiff hairs that resemble a feather, which helps them to steer and brake while gliding up to 20 meters.

Taronga Zoo is believed to be the first Zoo to ever successfully breed Feathertail Gliders, and in the last decade has seen the birth of up to 200 individuals.

The Zoo’s Australian Fauna Keeper, Rob Dockerill explains “we get two lots of breeding a year, one at the end of summer and one at the end of spring, so these new joeys are probably about 13 or 14 weeks old.

“When they’re born they’re half the size of a grain of rice, but once they get to be about one centimetre long in the pouch mum’s feet barely touch the ground. So the mothers leave them in a communal nest, taking turns watching over the joeys.” 

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