Thermal Drones Spot Koalas in Australian Wildlife Preserve

The Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) has begun using a thermal drone to track the presence of endangered koalas in its Waulinbakh Wildlife Sanctuary.

The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), which was funded by MidCoast Council with a grant from the New South Wales (NSW) Koala Strategy, spotted 10 of the animals after flying over two preselected areas, comprising 593 acres of the 9,884-acre preserve.

“Encountering 10 koalas is a great result,” said Andy Howe, AWC senior field ecologist. “It indicates that the Koala population at Waulinbakh Wildlife Sanctuary is robust, giving us a great platform to work from and emphasizing the site’s significance as a critical refuge for the endangered species in the region.”

The AWC acquired the sanctuary in 2022 through a conservation agreement with philanthropists and AWC supporters Andrew and Jane Clifford to manage it as a private estate.

After the purchase, AWC scientists estimated that the sanctuary was home to more than 300 different vertebrate species, with the koala among them, although not many specifics about the tree dwellers were known. While there were some opportunistic sightings, the anecdotal evidence they provided was not enough to gauge the full extent of the preserve’s koala population.

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“We had an idea of where to search for koalas based on early results from a bioacoustics survey we conducted at the sanctuary last year,” Howe said. “At the time, we had high koala calling rates in two areas within the central and north-east corner of the sanctuary.

“From the drone footage, we were able to ascertain that all Koalas looked healthy. They had full and uniform coats of gray and bright white fur, a great sign!”

“Council is thrilled with the results of the recent koala surveys at Waulinbakh Wildlife Sanctuary,” said Gerard Tuckerman, manager of natural systems at the MidCoast Council, a local governing district.

The NSW government elevated the conservation status of the koala in 2022, and the species has been prioritized in the region by the development of a MidCoast Koala Conservation Strategy, which provides a roadmap for the conservation and management of koalas over the next five years.

According to the NSW Koala Strategy, Waulinbakh is within one of 50 areas of regional Koala significance, meaning there is potential for long-term viability.