Trialling a real-time drone detection and validation protocol for the koala (Phascolarctos cinereus)

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.