Endangered Gliders Use 100% of New High-Tech Nest Boxes
When an Australian ecologist found an endangered greater glider in the second custom nesting box she checked, she burst into tears. The high-tech boxes achieved 100% occupancy within a year, offering real hope for a species that's lost 80% of its population.
Dr. Kita Ashman wasn't sure what she'd find when she opened the second specially designed nesting box in the Australian forest. When a fluffy greater glider peered back at her, the ecologist burst into tears of joy.
Greater gliders are nocturnal marsupials found only in Australia's eastern forests. With large ears, fluffy fur, and the ability to glide up to 100 meters, they've lost 80% of their population in just 20 years.
The 2019-2020 bushfires destroyed a third of their remaining habitat. The tree hollows these creatures need for nesting take over 100 years to form naturally, leaving desperate gliders with nowhere safe to live.
Standard wildlife nesting boxes don't work for greater gliders. The thin walls cause the animals to overheat, and heat-stressed gliders stop eating enough food, which can kill them.
So Australian National University, Greening Australia, and WWF-Australia partnered to create something better. They designed insulated boxes with heat-reflective, fire-resistant coating to protect gliders from Australia's harsh climate.
Dr. Ashman called them "Goldilocks boxes" because they keep gliders not too hot and not too cold. But the team couldn't be sure the animals would actually use them until they started checking the installed boxes in 2023.
The Bright Side
The results exceeded every hope. A 2025 study in Ecological Management & Restoration confirmed that the boxes achieved 100% occupancy within one year, with gliders moving into new boxes in an average of just 34 days.
More than 200 boxes are now installed across Victoria's East Gippsland and Tallaganda National Park in New South Wales. The project continues to expand, giving researchers valuable data about how many greater gliders remain in the wild.
"The more people know about them, the more that they will fall in love with them and want to protect them too," Dr. Youngentob told ANU. For a species officially endangered since 2022, these high-tech homes are making a real difference, one cozy glider at a time.
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Based on reporting by Upworthy
This story was written by BrightWire based on verified news reports.
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