Although koalas are one of Australia’s most iconic animals, their populations are under increasing pressure with a recent 26% decline in population size from a range of threats including habitat loss, bushfires and drought.
However, being able to monitor koalas from the ground is notoriously difficult given their immense ability to camouflage themselves high up in the canopy of towering trees. Therefore, Wildlife Drones are often called upon to use their advanced thermal drone sensor technology to survey for these cryptic creatures from the air.
EMM Consulting engaged Wildlife Drones’ specialised drone pilots to use this technology for detecting koala heat signatures and determining their abundance at a proposed development site, where only scant evidence of the species was previously known.
Large areas were surveyed rapidly with real-time visual and spatial data on koalas were gained across the site. This resulted in the detection of more koalas then ever previously recorded for the site using a range of ground-based survey techniques.
Not only was this a massive time-saver for the EMM team, but the data collected was critical for accurately evaluating the extent of potential impacts of the development, and for evaluating mitigating actions in accordance with threatened species and planning regulations.
The use of drones to create survey efficiencies was a really great addition to this project and allowed us to cover more ground than using traditional methods.
Sarah Perry
Associate Ecologist, EMM Consulting
