Sugar Glider: a two-minute wildlife lesson

Small Mammals · day 6 of 7

Five facts

1. A sugar glider leaps from a tree, spreads the skin flaps between its legs like a kite, and can glide 50 m or more.
2. While gliding, it drops just 1 m for every 1.82 m it moves forward. It steers by shifting its legs.
3. In cold weather, sugar gliders huddle together and can drop into torpor for 2 to 23 hours, with their body cooling to as low as 10.4 °C.
4. On average, a sugar glider's home range covers about half a hectare, depending on how much food is around.
5. Sugar gliders are active at night. By day they sleep in tree hollows lined with leafy twigs.

The quiz

1. How far can a sugar glider travel in a single glide?

• About 5 metres
• About 10 metres
• 50 metres or more (correct)
• More than 500 metres

It can glide 50 m or more in one go.

2. How far forward does a sugar glider travel for every 1 m it drops?

• 1.82 m (correct)
• 0.5 m
• 10 m
• 18.2 m

It drops only 1 m for every 1.82 m forward.

3. How low can a sugar glider's body temperature fall in torpor?

• 30 °C
• 10.4 °C (correct)
• 20.4 °C
• 0 °C

In torpor, its body can cool to as low as 10.4 °C.

4. On average, how big is a sugar glider's home range?

• About 50 hectares
• About 5 hectares
• About a tenth of a hectare
• About half a hectare (correct)

The average home range is about half a hectare.

5. Where do sugar gliders sleep during the day?

• In tree hollows (correct)
• In underground burrows
• In rock caves
• In snow holes

By day they sleep in tree hollows lined with leafy twigs.

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