Population of gliders at Tower Hill State Game Reserve a "steep decline"

Former Warrnambool resident Jarah Marginata, along with the Friend's of Tower Hill group and community members visited the reserve to count the number of Krefft's gliders during a "stagwatch".

Mr Marginata said they checked seven of the 11 boxes the marsupials lived in with seven gliders sighted over the course of the night.

He said of the seven counted, four were "unique individuals".

"We know those four are different individuals and the other three sightings could have been repeat sightings of those four," Mr Marginata said.

"That's why we do this stagwatch method, so each time you see one come out that's an individual.

"It will do its thing and come back and if you see another one come out it will be a different one."

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Mr Marginata said the number of gliders counted was what he had expected.

"The numbers are definitely in decline as the last monitoring back in 2008 recorded 52 individuals so four is definitely a pretty steep decline," he said.

Mr Marginata said volunteers were set up over a one-hour block at various points of the reserve to count the number of gliders exiting the boxes.

Mr Marginata said two of the gliders were spotted at the Shine Springs track at the causeway of the eastern rim.

The other groups were stationed at the start of the Lake Edge track, the southern side of the Wagon Bay Loop Walk, and near the former information centre.

They also spotted koalas, an emu, brushtail and ringtail possums, kangaroos including a joey in a pouch, a grey-headed flying fox, white-striped free-tail and Gould's wattled bats and a water scavenger beetle.

Mr Marginata said he intended to hold another stagwatch alongside the Friend's of Tower Hill group in April.

"(It) will be the last one for the year because it will become colder (in winter) and the (nocturnal) gliders will be in torpor - a mini hibernation over the night," he said.

"They'll sleep and conserve energy instead if it's too cold to go out."

The stagwatch was initially pencilled in to run on February 25, but was postponed due to the weather conditions on the night.

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