Cold country koalas project

Local Land Services is working with partners and private landholders to support the recovery of koala populations in the Southern Tablelands of NSW.

Last updated: 25 May 2026

Cooma East koala and the ravens
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Quick facts

Lead
Local Land Services
Topics
Biodiversity <br> Threatened species
Local Land Services Regions
South East

Project overview

Status: In progress

South East Local Land Services works closely with Landcare to support landholders to protect and improve koala habitat koala populations in the Southern Tablelands/Monaro region.

Work done under this project complements and builds on the work previously done under:

6:07

Caring for Cold Country Koalas

The Cold Country Koala habitat enhancement and survey project has allowed 15 landholders to protect and enhance koala habitat in South East NSW, around the Southern Tablelands ARKS (Area of Regional Koala Significance).

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Video transcript

Caring for Cold Country Koalas

[Music]
i'm kira gould from local land services
coordinating the coal country koalas
habitat enhancement
project this population of koalas is
sort of the i guess the snowy marriage
population and not much is really known
which is why this research is really
important
i think the first step is to
bring the land holders along with us
to appreciate that you have quite a
substantial population and a resilient
population in this part of the world is
really important for the overall
conservation of koalas in new south
wales
thank you all so much for coming it's so
great to see so many of you here this
morning this project is within the
numerella or the monero arcs area of
regional koala significance
the properties that we're working on are
based around the numeral peak view
durango
areas mainly
this project involves the planting of
approximately five thousand koala
habitat and feed trees we've also
achieved eight kilometers of livestock
exclusion fencing we've done weed
spraying and then we've also done some
pest animal control and that's mainly
been targeted around feral pigs
this area was impacted quite severely by
bushfires in 2019-20
as part of this project we were
undertaking a koala karaoke audio
monitoring survey um to try and
understand where the koalas were still
surviving after the bushfire
they're a small box they have a
microphone in it and an sd card that
records the recordings the units that we
were using have a radius of about 150 to
200 meters
and that's depending on the topography
but that's sort of the the zone that
they're recording
[Music]
[Music]
of our 100 odd units we had a hit rate
in the the monaro numeral arcs of uh 63
which was amazingly high
of the things that that we can pull out
of this information is that
koalas were detected in all of the areas
all of the areas have been affected by
fire um we picked up koalas so that was
great they're still in the area and the
other was that while we had the 63
success rate in the recordings um 50
over 50 of those 50 of those were on
private property
it kind of demonstrated how important in
this part of the world land holders are
in securing conservation of koalas in
the area
[Music]
my name's steve i work with tate animals
um and as you've probably gathered um we
work with detection dogs
and so this is dash here she's a
two-year-old
working english springer spaniel
detection dogs are a really really great
tool um in what is often a multi-pronged
approach
in
locating and managing and assessing uh
species like koalas
like nine months or however long they
kept their collar on i had it one of my
koalas crossed the um numeral river and
it went onto a property just down the
road here and it was an elderly couple
and i knocked on the door and i said
look I've got a koala just about 50
meters up there do you mind if i check
it explained who i was and they said who
told you there was a koala here and i
was like my gps i'm really sure
and they were really really excited you
know came out with me to see it and they
said we've been here however long we've
never seen one and you know i think it's
just touching on that notion of
educating people that there are koalas
and that they're worth protecting and
they are on your back doorstep
we've got 120 acres it's on the badger
river um
just a few kilometers out of the village
of numerola
there's a lot of talk about koalas
they're such a
popular animal for them to be now on the
endangered list i think has really
opened a lot of people's eyes up to what
we need to do for them and i think the
overwhelming reason that they are having
these problems is because there's not
enough habitat for them so i think this
is incredibly important to start
revegetating these areas that would have
once had vegetation on them with koala
trees and expanding their habitat
so what we're doing here today is we're
planting
so we've got
approximately 600 koala habitat and feed
trees going in here today all right so
the first thing
about planting
especially if you're doing it on math i
really do think it's about the people on
the ground the government providing the
funds will help so we'll be able to do
various things to
encourage these land holders in and for
them not to be feel intimidated
we've got to really move past that
because actually there's incentives
there's money
coming out towards the restoration of
the habitat so it might mean that that
land holder will be benefiting from
having koalas on their property
it's been really exciting to work with
our land holders on this coal country
koala habitat project we've had
lots of expressions of interest we've
had lots of land holders who are really
keen to set aside areas to help the
koalas and whether that is through
planting or just from excluding
livestock to protect that habitat and
that natural regeneration
in the past I've been working with pests
rabbits in particular so working with
koalas is so much nicer than working
with rabbits
and I've really enjoyed reaching out to
the community and having the community
be so involved and so enthusiastic about
the work that we've been doing it's just
been fantastic
[Music]
you

Project background

Under the 2021-2026 NSW Koala Strategy, the Southern Tablelands was identified as a priority koala population and included one of ten koala stronghold populations within NSW. 

It is vitally important to protect and enhance koala habitat in and around this area through on-ground works, as well as conducting ongoing surveys to learn more about this population and how we can help them.

Historical and recent surveys have shown that the koala population in these areas has local and state-wide significance.

The main threats to koalas across the Southern Tablelands are:

  • loss and fragmentation of habitat
  • destruction of habitat by fire
  • rapidly spreading weed, African lovegrass
  • chlamydial disease leading to infertility
  • vehicle strike
  • installation of pest animal exclusion fences without koala fence crossings. 
Map showing the Southern Tablelands Area of Regional Koala Significance (ARKS) shaded in purple, covering parts of southeast New South Wales including Numeralla and Kybean, with Cooma to the west and national parks to the east.
Map: Southern Tablelands Area of Regional Koala Significance (ARKS) 

Project objectives 

The Cold Country Koalas project aims to contribute to 2021-2026 NSW Koala Strategy goals: 

  • doubling koala numbers by 2050
  • encouraging healthy koala populations
  • supporting the protection and restoration of high-quality connected habitat. 

Project delivery 

Work includes: 

  • pest animal or livestock exclusion fencing  
  • revegetation planting to expand and connect koala habitat
  • weed control works and education
  • citizen science landholder and community surveys to identify and understand koala occupancy
  • audio surveys to identify the prime calling season for males
  • audio and drone surveys to locate koalas and determine occupancy levels across the region
  • chlamydia surveys to determine disease prevalence within and across the region
  • community activity, education and engagement. 

Work underway 

Work includes: 

  • habitat protection and restoration
  • the installation of pest exclusion fencing to protect habitat revegetation sites from feral deer and goats
  • weed control
  • Koala Karaoke audio monitoring and thermal drone surveys
  • collection and analysis of koala scat to gather information on the disease status of local koala populations. 

Project updates

April 2026

The Community koala day was held at Numeralla on Saturday 18 April.  

Uncle Warren Foster from Merrimans Local Aboriginal Land Council welcomed the gathering to Country with a smoking ceremony, which also cleansed the revegetation planting site.  

31 participants learnt the best methods for planting native trees and shrubs as they set to work.

A big group of people plant trees in a paddock.
Participants learnt tips for planting under the guidance of Wagtail Natives Nursery and Numeralla Landcare.

Presenters shared habitat restoration updates, case studies and best practice tips for managing koala habitat for revegetation, fencing and koala habitat protection. Presenters included: 

  • Dr Sally Miller – NSW Koala Strategy
  • Kirrily Gould – Local Land Services
  • Georgeanna Story – Upper Murrumbidgee Landcare.

The day wrapped up with a final presentation on koala diet analysis and tree use by Dr Karen Ford from the Australian National University.

A group of people sit and watch a presentation in an old barn.
Presenting on all things koala in the Southern Tablelands.

Information was presented on:

  • Koala Smart program, where over 400 high school students have attended Numeralla to plant habitat, learn about koalas, and take habitat measurements
  • Landcare Southern Tablelands Tree Start Growers Network, supported by NSW Koala Strategy where 80 volunteer growers have produced 30,000 plants for habitat restoration projects
  • the many koala surveys carried out across private property and Park estates by citizen scientists and the Regional Partnership team to increase the knowledge of koalas across the Southern Tablelands as part of the National Koala Monitoring Program
  • updates on the extensions to that work through audio monitoring and thermal drone surveys to help determine the local koala breeding season, koala density estimates and the disease status of the koala population.  

Participants received:

  • information on finding koalas
  • guides for managing koala habitat
  • how to log koala sightings into the I Spy Koala app
  • revegetation tubes to plant in their own back yard.  

The day was also supported by the NSW Rural Fire Service who brought their fire appliance along to highlight the risk of fire to koalas through the traditional artwork that they commissioned by Ngarigo artist Gail Neuss.

Aboriginal artwork on a fire truck.
Local Land Services' artwork by Gail Neuss inspired the Monaro Rural Fire Service to engage her to produce artwork for their local fire appliances to highlight the threat of fire to our koala population. Their artwork shows the koala throughout the seasons and has the catch phrase ‘our koalas future is in your hands’. There is also a QR code on the firetruck artwork that links back to the Cold Country Koala web page so that people can find out more about the Southern Tablelands koala population.
July 2025

In July 2025, the Avonside area was included in the the NSW Koala Strategy’s Southern Tablelands Chlamydia survey.

6 x 56 ha grids flown across the Avonside locality. 

8 koalas were detected and scat was collected for disease analysis. 

A survey was also undertaken at the same time under the Habitat for cold country koalas in Avonside project.

Read the media release - Thermal drones reveal hidden koalas in Southern Tablelands

October 2024 - January 2025

In 2024, Local Land Services commissioned an artwork by Ngarigo artist Gail Neuss as part of the Cold Country Koala Project. 

Read the artwork story here:

"My late father often spoke about the koala habitat in the Gudgenby Valley (A.C.T) Ngunnawal Country - where he grew up (1940s – 60s), the smells that koalas would leave behind, the scratching’s up the tree trunks, and just seeing them in the trees was just a normal day to day thing for him. I now live on the Monaro/Moneroo and I often wonder where did they go, did they run out of food, stop mating, or move to new areas?

This artwork shows the koala in the centre as a survivor, resilient to drought, extreme temperatures, land clearing, food shortage, predators, and many historical practices that would see numbers decline as koalas were hunted for their pelts.

Surrounding the koala are the tree growth rings belonging to our ancient eucalypts, crucial in the survival of these marsupials. The cross hatch within the rings represents the mountains of the cold country, snow, ancient pathways, and rivers also weave around the circular design.

The colours are that of the Monaro, with brilliant blue skies, stunning sunsets and vibrant winters. I have used dot art to depict snow. Traditionally dot art is not used by Ngarigo people.

Gula is the Traditional name used for Koala by the Ngarigo & Ngunnawal peoples."

A painting by an aboriginal artist featuring dot work.
Cold Country Koala artwork by Ngarigo artist, Gail Neuss.

 

In the 2024 breeding season, Local Land Services continued with the following surveys to help build knowledge of koalas in the Avonside project area:

Citizen Science Bioacoustic survey

Landholders received approx. 25 song meter micro audio monitors along with deployment instructions and information on best locations to deploy. There was a high failure rate associated with this survey. Of the monitors that did record data (12 out of 25), there were no koala detections. 

A survey was also undertaken at the same time under the Habitat for cold country koalas in Avonside project covering the Avonside area.

2022-23
  • 152 recorders were deployed across all land tenures, with 71 on private land, 64 on National Park reserves and 18 in State Forests.  
  • Koalas were detected at 45 sites, which equated to 29.6% of all sites.
  • Koala presence was found to be much higher in the Southern Tablelands ARKS, with 72% of the recorders detecting koala calls.  
  • When property tenure was examined, NPWS reserves heard koalas at 91% of ARKS sites.  
  • Private property, while not as great, also recorded a high level of detection at 66% within the ARKS.  
  • No recorders were deployed on State Forest lands within the ARKS boundary.  
  • The results from sites outside of the ARKS boundary were substantially lower despite almost twice as many recorders deployed.  
  • Only 6% of sites outside of the ARKS detected koalas, with all but one found on private property.  

While these results demonstrate that the frequency of koala occurrence outside of the ARKS is much lower, the survey confirms previous reports on the distribution of koalas across the Southern Tablelands beyond the ARKS.   

Koalas were found in semirural areas in close proximity to Queanbeyan, through to the Tinderry ranges, nearby Cooma and within the Avonside range.   

It is also worth noting the sampling intensity within the ARKS was over three times greater than the outside area.   

Future surveys will continue to explore the region as a whole, with a greater emphasis on areas of unknown koala status.

Table 1. Results of surveys within and outside of the Southern Tablelands ARKS.

HeadingSouthern Tablelands ARKSOutside of ARKS
Number of recorders5498
Recorder detection72%6%
Number of private properties1556
Private property detection66%9%
Public property detection91%2%

Read the full Cold country koala karaoke survey reports.

Funding and partnerships  

This project is supported by the NSW Government under the NSW Koala Strategy, through the Southern Tablelands Regional Koala Conservation Partnership.

Local Land Services has worked closely with:

  • NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service
  • Upper Snowy Landcare
  • Upper Murrumbidgee Landcare
  • Snowy Monaro Regional Council
  • Snowy Monaro Rural Fire Service
  • private landholders.

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