Information by Taylor from Year 5P at Rochedale State School.

  INTRODUCTION

The Sugar Glider Possum (Petaurus breviceps) is one of the smallest marsupials in Australia. The Sugar Glider is a friendly creature. If it is teased or hurt by other creatures, it will attack. They are common in Eastern Australia, Tasmania, Northern Territory and the top of Western Australia.

DESCRIPTION 

The Sugar Glider is black and brown with a dark stripe between its eyes. The adult Sugar Glider Possum grows up to a weight of 130g. The Sugar Glider has a 210mm long tail. It also has dark rings around its eyes. They also have skin between the front and rear legs. They use this when gliding...making them look like a kite. They can live about 8 years in the wild, 15 years in captivity. They are communal, living in small colonies of 2 or more. They are also very territorial and will only tolerate others from their own colony. Sugar Gliders will be very aggressive to intruders and may even kill them. Their call is a yapping and gurgling sound. During Winter, they enter a torpor (sort of sleep) for short periods during Winter.

HABITAT & FEEDING HABITS

Sugar Gliders can be found in rainforests and woodlands. The Sugar Glider Possum can live in both warm and cold climates. It also lives near trees that give suitable food and shelter. The Sugar Glider Possums love to eat fruit, insects, leaves and sap. Thye also eat wattle, eucalypts and blossoms. It collects its food at night.

CONCLUSION

The Sugar Glider Possum is nocturnal which means that it sleeps in the day. It can glide up to 30m downwards. It can also travel up to 100m in one leap. The young possums develop while carried about in a pouch on their mother's abdomen.

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