Biodiverse Environmental were engaged by Seymour Whyte Constructions to undertake a thermal drone survey to detect koala presence within bushland along Rifle Range Road in October 2022 prior to vegetation clearing works. The thermal drone survey was undertaken before sunrise to maximise temperature differences between the bodies of koalas (and other fauna) and the surrounding canopy.
Drones are a rapidly emerging tool to support the detection of species (such as koalas) that can be difficult to detect when completing surveys on foot. When paired with thermal sensors, drones detect the differences in brightness between a koala’s thermal signature and their surrounding environment.
During thermal drone surveys, koala thermal signatures may be confused with habitat features, such as (e.g., arboreal termitaries and occupied hollows, and/or co-occurring arboreal species, such as flying-foxes, possums and birds. To counter this issue, any detected heat signatures were verified by a visual ground-truth survey. During the thermal drone survey, no koalas were identified within the area.
