Sugar gliders are palm-size possums that can glide half the length of a soccer pitch in one trip. These common, tree-dwelling marsupials are native to tropical and cool-temperate forests in Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. Their “wings” are made from a thin skin stretched between the fifth forefinger and back ankle, and they use their bushy tails as rudders as they soar through the air.

Often compared with flying squirrels—rodents with similar bodies that can also glide—sugar gliders are more closely related to other marsupials like kangaroos. As nocturnal animals, they see well in the dark with their big black eyes. They have mostly grey fur but their underbellies are white, and their heads have black stripes.

Sugar gliders nest