![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/SCN050825-Reesville-koala-1-scaled.jpg\")
Reesville in the Sunshine Coast hinterland is a special place for koala conservation. Picture: Sunshine Coast Council.<\/p>\nThere\u2019s a \u2018beary\u2019 encouraging report about a koala population in a small pocket of the hinterland.<\/p>\n
A thermal drone survey has confirmed that Reesville, west of Maleny, is one of the most densely populated koala habitats in the northern part of South-East Queensland.<\/p>\n
The survey detected 51 koalas stretched across just under 100 hectares\u00a0of\u00a0private land.<\/p>\n
The surprise result significantly surpassed previous regional estimates, which ranged from zero to 22 koalas per 100 hectares.<\/p>\n
The discovery was thanks to a collaboration between local landholders, the University of the Sunshine Coast, the University of Queensland Koala Ecology Group and Sunshine Coast Council.<\/p>\n
Detection Dogs for Conservation director and UniSC senior research fellow Dr Romane Cristescu said the findings confirmed long-held suspicions about the ecological importance of the Reesville area.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur fabulous colleagues at UQ Koala Ecology Group, council and locals had warned us there was something really special about Reesville koalas \u2013 and we were not disappointed,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the survey\u2019s results tallied 51 koalas, the highest density we found on the Sunshine\u00a0Coast\u00a0so far, the whole team was so excited.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe community of Reesville is passionate about protecting their koalas so it makes sense there are quite a few koalas calling Reesville home \u2013 likely helped by good guardianship.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reesville in the Sunshine Coast hinterland is a special place for koala conservation. Picture: Sunshine Coast Council.<\/p>\n
Dr Cristescu said the findings also confirmed how important private land was to koala conservation.<\/p>\n
\u201cRecently we were called after local champions found and rescued a joey, who had to be rushed to the hospital thanks to the active local rescue group and supporters,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s also heartwarming that there are many habitat restoration actions currently happening \u2013 keep up the great work Reesville, your koalas are very pleased with your support!\u201d<\/p>\n
Council\u2019s team leader wildlife conservation Kate Hofmeister said the organisation had been actively supporting koala conservation efforts in Reesville for several years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis find cements Reesville as one of the most critical koala habitats in northern South-East Queensland,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
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\u201cCouncil is now\u00a0in\u00a0the final stages\u00a0of\u00a0securing additional grant funding to expand habitat restoration across surveyed private lands.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will also be\u00a0installing permanent vehicle-activated signage to reduce koala-vehicle collisions and rolling out the \u2018Leave It\u2019 program to reduce dog-koala\u00a0interactions \u2013 both funded by the Queensland Government.\u201d<\/p>\n
Division 5 Councillor Winston Johnston acknowledged the role of local residents and rescue groups in protecting koalas, including the recent rescue of the joey.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a fantastic outcome and these results are a testament to the dedication of the Reesville community and our conservation partners,\u201d Cr Johnston said.<\/p>\n
Koala breeding season is from now until February, which spells a time of increased movement for koalas as they look for love.<\/p>\n
Coast residents are encouraged to drive slowly\u00a0in\u00a0koala habitat areas and report sightings\u00a0of\u00a0injured or diseased animals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There\u2019s a \u2018beary\u2019 encouraging report about a koala population in a small pocket of the hinterland. A thermal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":58919,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[64,63,128,338],"class_list":{"0":"post-58918","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58918","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58918"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58918\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}