A heartwarming discovery of an endangered koala and her young joey nestled in the treetops has excited ecologists and conservationists in New South Wales, Australia.
The pair was spotted on the Australian Wildlife Conservancy's (AWC) newly acquired Waulinbakh Wildlife Sanctuary, situated on the traditional land of the Worimi people, in an area recognized as vital for the preservation of the threatened species.
The mother and joey were detected in the early morning by a thermal drone funded by MidCoast Council through a grant from the NSW Koala Strategy. The drone's mission was to confirm the presence and health of koalas within the 4,000-hectare sanctuary.
As it soared over 240 hectares of the sanctuary, it identified a total of 10 koalas, offering a promising outlook for the local koala population.
"Encountering 10 koalas is a great result," Andy Howe, a Senior Field Ecologist at AWC, said in a statement.
"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 Waulinbakh Wildlife Sanctuary was acquired in 2022, with support from philanthropists Andrew and Jane Clifford, in partnership with AWC to preserve and manage the area for wildlife.
Early assessments suggested the sanctuary could support more than 300 vertebrate species, including the koala, though little was known about the actual population size until now.
Using preliminary data from a bioacoustics survey conducted last year, AWC scientists were able to narrow down areas likely to harbor koalas.
"We had high Koala calling rates in two areas within the central and northeast corner of the sanctuary," Howe said.
The drone survey confirmed these suspicions, capturing images of healthy koalas with vibrant coats and no visible signs of disease—a relief given the species' vulnerability to conditions like chlamydia and conjunctivitis.
"AWC does vital work to conserve Australia's natural heritage, including working at the front line to transition land with a long-term logging history into a koala safe space," Gerard Tuckerman, MidCoast Council's manager of natural systems, said in a statement.
"Having an Australian Wildlife Conservancy sanctuary here on the MidCoast contributes significantly to local conservation. We look forward to working with the organization to learn more about the plant and animal diversity on their land and to help protect the environment."
This discovery comes as the NSW government continues to emphasize koala conservation, following an official designation of the species as endangered in 2022.
The Waulinbakh Sanctuary falls within one of 50 designated "Areas of Regional Koala Significance" (ARKS) under the NSW Koala Strategy, a status that underscores the sanctuary's potential for supporting long-term koala populations.
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