Trialling a real-time drone detection and validation protocol for the koala (Phascolarctos cinereus)
Chad T. Beranek
A B C D , Adam Roff A B , Bob Denholm A , Lachlan G. Howell B C and Ryan R. Witt B C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Science Division, Department of Planning and Environment, Newcastle, NSW 2300, Australia.
B School of Environmental and Life Sciences, Biology Building, University of Newcastle, University Drive, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia.
C FAUNA Research Alliance, PO Box 5092, Kahibah, NSW 2290, Australia.
D Corresponding author. Email: chad.beranek@uon.edu.au
Australian Mammalogy 43(2) 260-264 https://doi.org/10.1071/AM20043
Submitted: 26 May 2020 Accepted: 11 June 2020 Published: 7 July 2020
Abstract
Remotely piloted aircraft system (RPAS), or drone, technology has emerged as a promising survey method for the cryptic koala. We demonstrate an in-field protocol for wild koala RPAS surveys which provides real-time validation of thermal signatures. During 15 trial flights using a quadcopter drone (DJI Matrice 200 v2) we successfully detected and validated koala thermal signatures (n = 12) using two in-field approaches: validation by on-ground observer (n = 10) and validation using 4K footage captured and reviewed directly after the survey (n = 2). We also provide detectability considerations relative to survey time, temperature, wildlife–RPAS interactions and detection of non-target species, which can be used to further inform RPAS survey protocols.
Additional keywords: drone, koala, monitoring, protocol, RPAS, thermal signature validation.
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