While the guttural bellow of a male koala might not be a sonnet to all ears, it does make them easy to detect, according to Central Tablelands Land Services Officer, Mark Thomas.
Around spring, male koalas call to attract females and ward off rivals, making recording male koalas a good way to establish if koalas are in the area.
Working with the NSW Koala Strategy team, LLS officers strategically placed 50 acoustic songmeters around Mount Rockley, south of Bathurst, for 14 nights during spring to record the calls.
“The results have been excellent with koalas being detected in areas they had not been seen or heard for many years” Mark said. “It’s great to get a scientific approach to monitor the numbers so we can see if the koala population is increasing or decreasing over time.”
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