Koala
Research

You Yangs Koala Counts

Janine Duffy, President and founder of Koala Clancy Foundation has been conducting koala counts in the You Yangs Regional Park, Victoria Australia since 2007. 

Area 1 is 157 hectares near the main entrance, and incorporates Turntable Drive, Big Rock Road and the eastern and western ends of Great Circle Drive. 

In 2007 this area was home to 30 individual koalas: 17 females, 12 males and 1 juvenile born that year. 

By 2019 that number had declined to 13: 6 females, 6 males and 1 juvenile.

You Yangs Koala Counts Area 1 2007 to 2019

Methods:

All koala monitoring is opportunistic and by visual observation only.  Koalas are identified non-intrusively using my Koala Nose Pattern Identification method – once found a koala is photographed and viewed through binoculars no closer than 10 metres away. All monitoring is conducted with Parks Victoria knowledge and approval.

Monitoring is conducted throughout the year, in two areas of the You Yangs.  From 2007 to March 2020 we were out monitoring 220 to 310 days per year.  We recognise over 90% of the koalas we find by their nose patterns.  Any koala that is seen more than once is included in our koala count. Over that many monitoring days, we see nearly all the koalas that live in or visit the monitoring area, so our counts are very reliable.

This project was funded by social enterprise contributions from Echidna Walkabout Nature Tours and offered freely to land managers, conservationists and the public.  In 2020 Koala Clancy Foundation took over the funding of the project. We use this monitoring to guide our koala tree planting and weed removal projects. 

For more information about my methods, or to use any of my findings please contact Janine Duffy. president @ koalaclancyfoundation.org.au

Thanks to the Koala Clancy Foundation team, Echidna Walkabout’s Wildlife Guides and tour guests who all contribute photographs, sightings and observations to this project.