{"id":818819,"date":"2026-07-23T13:55:27","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T13:55:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/818819\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T13:55:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T13:55:27","slug":"volkswagens-kangaroo-frequency-protects-wildlife","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/818819\/","title":{"rendered":"Volkswagen’s ‘kangaroo frequency\u2019 protects wildlife"},"content":{"rendered":"

According to a study<\/a> by Australian Associated Motor Insurers Limited, kangaroos are responsible for roughly 90% of all wildlife-vehicle collisions in Australia, followed by wallabies, wombats, and deer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That high percentage is due in large part to the sheer number of kangaroos that live in the Australian wilds. In 2024, the Australian government reported<\/a> that there were about 35.3 million kangaroos in the country \u2014 or roughly 1.36 kangaroos for every person.<\/p>\n

In 2019, Volkswagen began pioneering a solution that aimed to reduce kangaroo-vehicle collisions with a new front-bumper safety feature called a \u201cRooBadge.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

By partnering with Helena Bender, Ph.D., and associate professor Graeme Coulson, the country\u2019s leading kangaroo behaviorist from the University of Melbourne, the automobile manufacturer designed high-frequency sounds that would alert \u2014 and deter \u2014 approaching kangaroos.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe RooBadge utilizes a unique approach to audio-based deterrents by mixing meaningful sounds to kangaroos (like bird alarm calls, predatory sounds, and kangaroo foot thumps) with synthetic sounds,\u201d Volkswagen stated on its website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith multiple species of kangaroo found across Australia, all of which react differently to different sounds, producing a single sound to deter them all is nearly impossible,\u201d the manufacturer explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, in a world-first innovation, RooBadge uses machine learning to compare its GPS coordinates against kangaroo distribution data to optimize its sound, deterring the kangaroo species that inhabit that location.\u201d<\/p>\n

Volkswagen is also working with the Wildlife Information Rescue and Education Service to improve its kangaroo distribution data and identify new \u201chotspots\u201d for kangaroo collisions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to the latest official update from Volkswagen, the safety feature is currently undergoing its fourth round of testing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe main thing is we would never come to market with anything that doesn\u2019t work, and especially in this space,\u201d Volkswagen commercial vehicles director Nathan Johnson told CarsGuide<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll continue going through the testing process, making sure that it is a viable option.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to keeping kangaroos off of busy roads, Volkswagen believes that once their RooBadge technology is perfected, it could be replicated for other animals at the forefront of wildlife conservation efforts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAnimal collisions are a global problem, with deer being the most significant issue across Europe and North America,\u201d the company stated<\/a>. \u201cSo, we\u2019re working with partners overseas to adapt RooBadge to deter deer and other problem animals worldwide.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the meantime, government officials and wildlife experts have been trying to get the word out through road safety PSAs<\/a> and \u201cKangaroo Crossing\u201d signs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"AJpp\/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really important that drivers are on the lookout for wildlife on the roads \u2014 particularly at dawn and dusk,\u201d Chris Emerson, an insurance research specialist, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you spot an animal on the road while driving, remember to brake but don\u2019t swerve, as this may cause a collision with other cars,\u201d they added. \u201cWhen driving in an area where animals could be present, take note of any signage about local wildlife and slow down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, a sad reality is that a struck kangaroo may be carrying a baby kangaroo \u2014 called a joey \u2014 in their pouch. Joeys typically stay inside their mother\u2019s pouch for about six to 10 months after they\u2019re born, depending on the species.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If a joey is orphaned in a car accident, WIRES works with a network of volunteers to rehabilitate them. Volunteers like Diane Kirkland, who has been rescuing injured and orphaned joeys on roads in western New South Wales for almost a decade.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a sucker for animals, and I look at it this way: Even if one dies, I am happy to say that it didn\u2019t die out on the open road, out in the cold,\u201d Kirkland said. \u201cIt was loved, it was looked after.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AMatthew Riondino\/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0<\/a>)<\/p>\n

She\u2019s lost count of the number of joeys she has raised and released on her farm.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce they don\u2019t have a bottle anymore, they are not in a yard anymore; they just roam the property,\u201d Kirkland explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they do come home, they lie on the lawn. I always leave a bucket of water out for them; I leave pellets out for them in case they need something extra besides the dry grass.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u200d<\/p>\n

You may also like: India uses color psychology to prevent wildlife collisions: ‘Red roads, green intent’<\/a><\/p>\n

\u200d<\/p>\n

Featured Image: Volkswagen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"According to a study by Australian Associated Motor Insurers Limited, kangaroos are responsible for roughly 90% of all…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":818820,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[64,63,128,338],"class_list":["post-818819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/818819","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=818819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/818819\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/818820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=818819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=818819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=818819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}