Introduction

Australia has the highest number of hollow-dependent species in the world! Possums, gliders and phascogales as well as lorikeets, parrots, kingfishers, owls and microbats all use hollows.¹ This is no doubt due to the proliferation of Eucalypt species across the continent over many millennia. Many of these trees are long-lived and after a century or so they start to develop hollows and cavities. These naturally formed hollows provide places for these species to shelter, breed and feed.

Since European settlement, there has been a significant loss of the hollows through deforestation and degradation of habitats. This has had a significant impact on many endemic species that have evolved and depend on these hollows.²

While many landowners and managers as well as Bushcare groups are rehabilitating and where possible replanting Eucalypt bushland, it will take many decades before natural hollows become available for local wildlife. To address this problem, many people have...