Thermal drones are highly effective for detecting elusive Bennett’s tree kangaroos (Dendrolagus bennettianus) in Australia’s tropical rainforests

Emmeline Bernadette Barrett Norris; Johan Larson

doi:10.1071/AM24053

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

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Thermal drones are highly effective for detecting elusive Bennett’s tree kangaroos (Dendrolagus bennettianus) in Australia’s tropical rainforests

Emmeline Bernadette Barrett Norris ^A ^* and Johan Larson ^A

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Cairns, Queensland 4878, Australia.

^* Correspondence to: emmeline.norris@my.jcu.edu.au

Handling Editor: Ross Goldingay

Australian Mammalogy 47, AM24053 https://doi.org/10.1071/AM24053

Submitted: 6 December 2024 Accepted: 16 January 2025 Published: 4 February 2025

© 2025 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of the Australian Mammal Society. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Tree kangaroos (Dendrolagus spp.) are poorly studied owing to their elusive arboreal nature, which makes detection difficult using traditional methods such as spotlighting and hand-held thermal cameras. This note documents the first successful detection of Bennett’s tree kangaroos (D. bennettianus) using thermal drones in tropical rainforest at Cape Tribulation, Australia. In less than an hour, six individuals were observed across 17 ha. The method proved minimally invasive and highly effective in rainforest environments despite dense vegetation and high temperatures, demonstrating both the unexpected abundance of this species and the utility of thermal drones for monitoring tropical arboreal fauna.

Keywords: arboreal mammals, population monitoring, remote sensing, RPAS, survey method, thermal infrared, UAV, wildlife conservation.

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