Koala counting project finds 'strong case' of unrecognised population in Hills district
By Declan Bowring
ABC Radio Sydney
Topic:Conservation
16m ago16 minutes agoTue 10 Dec 2024 at 10:19pm
A juvenile koala sits in a tree.
The Hills-Hornsby area is not considered in the state's koala strategy, an environmental group says. (ABC News: Stephanie Zillman)
In short:
A study has found evidence of a permanent koala population in the Hills District in Sydney's north-west.
Wildlife group Hills-Hornsby Rural Koala Project says the area is not seen as place where a notable population exists.
What's next?
The group would like to see the newly-discovered population factored into the state's koala strategy.
A wildlife group is pushing to change the state's koala protection plans after discovering compelling evidence of an unrecognised koala population in Sydney's north-west.
Using drones with thermal image cameras, The Hills-Hornsby Rural Koala Project found 13 koalas in a 600-hectare area on properties in Glenorie and Maroota in The Hills District.
a thermal image with a white spot in the middle
Thermal image cameras mounted on drones, as seen in this example, detected 13 koalas. (Supplied: WildSeek)
Lilly Schwartz from the koala project said it firmed up the group's photographic and aural evidence of koalas in their area.
"It puts a very strong case forward for a breeding population that exists here permanently," Ms Schwartz said.
"We've also got proof of multiple female koalas, which is through our community reports.
"It's just really great to know that those small amounts of reports that we're getting from the community, they really are representing that there is a population."
Several women and a man stand in bushland smiling
Lilly Schwartz (second from right) wants the Hills' koala population to be recognised by the state's koala strategy. (ABC Radio Sydney: Declan Bowring)
Bushfires that scorched much of the region in December 2002 were thought to have left little hope for koala populations.
But Ms Schwartz sought to prove otherwise, and her project found its first solid photo evidence of a koala at Glenorie within a year of kicking off in 2018.
Animal rescue group WIRES funded the most recent count using drones.
It was done with Landcare's WildSeek project, and used a methodology from Queensland University of Technology to perform a scientifically robust study.
A koala sitting on the branch of a tree
A contributor to the project spotted a koala in South Maroota in November 2023. (Supplied: Lilly Schwartz)
"This is a region that, in a lot of cases, people have deemed not to be suitable for a koala population," Katie Selhorst from WildSeek said.
"This data shows that koalas are within the region and that this region is important just due to the fact that koalas are there."
WildSeek has previously confirmed a larger-than-expected koala population in the Sutherland Shire using the same method.
a drone parked on an orange mat in the bush
The drones were used in areas that the Hills-Hornsby Rural Koala Project had reports of koalas. (Supplied: Landcare)
Koalas have been considered endangered in NSW under the state's biodiversity conservation act since May 2022.
Call to update strategy
Using the new evidence, Ms Schwartz said she would like to see the NSW Koala Strategy updated to include the Hills, Hornsby and Hawkesbury regions.
She said it would be an important starting point, as many forested parts of the Hills were not protected as National Parks or reserves.
"Right now we're not really in their strategy at all," Ms Schwartz said.
"From there, hopefully we will be able to work towards some conservation for them."
The state government's NSW Koala Strategy has been under review this year.
"The NSW government is currently reviewing the NSW Koala Strategy to ensure the long-term survival of koalas in the wild," a spokesperson for the state's environment department said.
Ms Schwartz said she wanted the findings of the drone survey to be factored into the strategy.
"Now is the time for them to be adding us in because once they've finished that work of reviewing their policies, I don't think it'll change again for years," she said.
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Posted16m ago16 minutes agoTue 10 Dec 2024 at 10:19pm
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