Can you see the koala hidden in the tree? Photo: Local Land Services.
From high in the sky, a thermal camera attached to a drone narrowed in on a lump in a Snowy Mountains tree.
It was one of several drones flying around the region in an attempt to find koalas.
“You find an animal in a tree that you think could be a koala, and then we’ve got a spotlight on the drone that we can shine on the animal and zoom the camera in,” said Local Land Services officer Kirrily Gould.
“It’s a really efficient way of surveying large areas.”
Eight koalas were found on private land near Jindabyne, in what Ms Gould saw as a great sign for the species.
A 2003 bushfire tore through the region, leading to fears the region’s koala population had been wiped out.
“To find these extra pockets of koalas in areas where we hadn’t found them before, or we didn’t know of them before, is what’s really significant.”
She said that while there were koala scat detections and anecdotal sightings previously reported, this was the first detection of these koalas.
“The isolated, rugged nature of the countryside and the very few access tracks throughout the terrain mean that a lot of the landholders who live there have never actually seen a koala,” she said.
“They didn’t know they had them … and a lot of people just don’t think to look up for scratch marks or signs of koalas, as well.”
Ms Gould said the animal’s scat was sent off for testing and to make sure the population was healthy.
There’s hope their status as a satellite population (an isolated population separated from a larger one) means they’re free from disease.
“It’s very hard for us to tell from the drone – in the dark, at night – whether the animals are healthy or not, but we’re hoping that this population is healthy and chlamydia free.
“We’ve got our fingers crossed and are waiting for those results to come back.”
Ms Gould says the discovery ignites hope that there are more koalas in the Snowies – and their sounds can be recorded. Photo: DPI.
Their next step is to continue their efforts to find and track Snowy Mountains koalas.
Funding availability and weather conditions will determine whether further drone surveys are also carried out.
“I don’t know that there’s another secret population – we’re just hoping that there’s more than we found.
“We’ve only explored this tiny snapshot … We’ve explored 300-odd hectares, and there’s a potential 15,000 hectares out there.”
Ms Gould said landholders could join an ongoing citizen science effort in which recorders are placed in the bush to record koalas.
It’s called the ‘Koala Karaoke’ project, also known as a bioacoustic survey.
Once the recordings are analysed, researchers gain another tool to track where koalas are located.
She also said private landowners could protect any koala populations (as well as other animals) by maintaining their natural habitats.
“I think it’s been really great to work with private landholders on this project, and to see them get excited about us finding koalas on their property because the majority of them had no idea that they had koalas,” she said.
“This highlights to us the importance of private landholdings, and private landholders can help maintain that habitat by looking after it.”
The drone surveys were carried out as part of a disease study under the NSW Koala Strategy Regional Partnership, building on the Australian Government’s Koala Community Grants initiative.
People from across southeast NSW can also register for the Koala Karaoke online. Its 2025 round starts this month and will run into 2026.
