Koalas are returning to restored habitat along Victoria’s Moorabool River

After each planting, audio recorders were set up across the property to monitor wildlife activity.

Monitoring koalas by audio recorders is a widely used, and non-invasive method that records adult males calling in breeding season. Female koalas do vocalise too, but less often.

Not many koalas were expected to be heard in the first year, while the trees were still small. Instead, the results exceed all expectations.

In the first year of monitoring, four koala calls were recorded, already suggesting the site had potential. But by the second year, the number of recorded calls had tripled.

The recordings captured the sounds of several males on the property, and even a male and a female mating, providing evidence that koalas are not just passing through but actively using the landscape.