Koala conservation is something to sniff at for hard-working scent hound
But the excitable sniffer dog wasn't too interested in human attention. She was there to work.
On the first day of Lake Macquarie City Council's koala survey, Poa launched into her work with gusto.
She raced up the steep bush track near Billy's Lookout alongside her handler and ecologist Lily Alvarez, sniffing through leaf litter and fallen branches for koala scat.
"We're doing a 200-metre by 50-metre transect, so a one-hectare search area, and since she's trained to find the odour and lie down with the odour basically between her paws, she'll put her nose on the odour to show us where it is," Ms Alvarez said.
Poa has worked in conservation for two years, helping to sniff out and identify koala scats from up to 100 metres away in Casino and Port Stephens for Mid North Coast-based company Canines For Wildlife.
"It's pretty amazing, just that relationship and that human bond with dogs; it's so strong," Ms Alvarez said.
"So when it's working well, it feels incredible."
Discovering how many of the furry marsupials live in local government areas has become of vital importance since the devastating Black Summer bushfires either killed, injured or impacted the habitat of 60,000 koalas throughout Australia.
The 2020 Legislative Council inquiry into NSW koala numbers and habitat found that the beloved species could be extinct in the state by 2050 if immediate action is not taken to safeguard the population.
The state government provided a $15,000 grant to the council earlier this year as part of its NSW Koala Strategy.
Koalas are known to live in Lake Macquarie near Mount Sugarloaf, in the Watagans and south of Morisset.
However, koalas are expected to be living in other parts of Lake Macquarie too. A koala was rescued from a telegraph pole in suburban Teralba earlier this year.
Lake Macquarie's koala population is particularly important, as it's believed to be disease-free.
The council's coordinator for environment policy and resilience, Dan Woods, said the survey aims to fill in information gaps about the koala population range.
"There are sightings where people are accessing those bushland areas, and that's how we know where they are," Mr Woods said.
"The other mapping we've done is based on habitat and local koalas' food trees and where they're likely to be.
"There hasn't been any systematic survey of koalas across the LGA. This is filling in those information gaps.
"It's where we see potential koala habitat, but we're actually seeing if they exist there or not."
Previously, koala surveys were conducted by people walking through the bush and searching the branch tops of trees.
Mr Woods said other conservation sniffer dog companies would be used throughout the coming months.
"They can confirm the presence of koalas a lot easier than a human can," he said.
"Once they confirm it, we can come back with other techniques, such as drones, to find out more information about the actual population of koalas in that area."
The results of the survey will be used to shape future council planning policies.
"Once we know what the distribution of koalas is within the local government area, then we can work on developing strategies to protect and conserve their habitat and that koala population," Mr Woods said.
There were plenty of excited onlookers lining up to pat four-year-old English springer spaniel, Poa, on Monday morning in Teralba bushland.
But the excitable sniffer dog wasn't too interested in human attention. She was there to work.
On the first day of Lake Macquarie City Council's koala survey, Poa launched into her work with gusto.
She raced up the steep bush track near Billy's Lookout alongside her handler and ecologist Lily Alvarez, sniffing through leaf litter and fallen branches for koala scat.
"We're doing a 200-metre by 50-metre transect, so a one-hectare search area, and since she's trained to find the odour and lie down with the odour basically between her paws, she'll put her nose on the odour to show us where it is," Ms Alvarez said.
Poa has worked in conservation for two years, helping to sniff out and identify koala scats from up to 100 metres away in Casino and Port Stephens for Mid North Coast-based company Canines For Wildlife.
"It's pretty amazing, just that relationship and that human bond with dogs; it's so strong," Ms Alvarez said.
"So when it's working well, it feels incredible."
Discovering how many of the furry marsupials live in local government areas has become of vital importance since the devastating Black Summer bushfires either killed, injured or impacted the habitat of 60,000 koalas throughout Australia.
The 2020 Legislative Council inquiry into NSW koala numbers and habitat found that the beloved species could be extinct in the state by 2050 if immediate action is not taken to safeguard the population.
The state government provided a $15,000 grant to the council earlier this year as part of its NSW Koala Strategy.
Koalas are known to live in Lake Macquarie near Mount Sugarloaf, in the Watagans and south of Morisset.
However, koalas are expected to be living in other parts of Lake Macquarie too. A koala was rescued from a telegraph pole in suburban Teralba earlier this year.
Lake Macquarie's koala population is particularly important, as it's believed to be disease-free.
The council's coordinator for environment policy and resilience, Dan Woods, said the survey aims to fill in information gaps about the koala population range.
"There are sightings where people are accessing those bushland areas, and that's how we know where they are," Mr Woods said.
"The other mapping we've done is based on habitat and local koalas' food trees and where they're likely to be.
"There hasn't been any systematic survey of koalas across the LGA. This is filling in those information gaps.
"It's where we see potential koala habitat, but we're actually seeing if they exist there or not."
Previously, koala surveys were conducted by people walking through the bush and searching the branch tops of trees.
Mr Woods said other conservation sniffer dog companies would be used throughout the coming months.
"They can confirm the presence of koalas a lot easier than a human can," he said.
"Once they confirm it, we can come back with other techniques, such as drones, to find out more information about the actual population of koalas in that area."
The results of the survey will be used to shape future council planning policies.
"Once we know what the distribution of koalas is within the local government area, then we can work on developing strategies to protect and conserve their habitat and that koala population," Mr Woods said.
There were plenty of excited onlookers lining up to pat four-year-old English springer spaniel, Poa, on Monday morning in Teralba bushland.
But the excitable sniffer dog wasn't too interested in human attention. She was there to work.
On the first day of Lake Macquarie City Council's koala survey, Poa launched into her work with gusto.
She raced up the steep bush track near Billy's Lookout alongside her handler and ecologist Lily Alvarez, sniffing through leaf litter and fallen branches for koala scat.
"We're doing a 200-metre by 50-metre transect, so a one-hectare search area, and since she's trained to find the odour and lie down with the odour basically between her paws, she'll put her nose on the odour to show us where it is," Ms Alvarez said.
Poa has worked in conservation for two years, helping to sniff out and identify koala scats from up to 100 metres away in Casino and Port Stephens for Mid North Coast-based company Canines For Wildlife.
"It's pretty amazing, just that relationship and that human bond with dogs; it's so strong," Ms Alvarez said.
"So when it's working well, it feels incredible."
Discovering how many of the furry marsupials live in local government areas has become of vital importance since the devastating Black Summer bushfires either killed, injured or impacted the habitat of 60,000 koalas throughout Australia.
The 2020 Legislative Council inquiry into NSW koala numbers and habitat found that the beloved species could be extinct in the state by 2050 if immediate action is not taken to safeguard the population.
The state government provided a $15,000 grant to the council earlier this year as part of its NSW Koala Strategy.
Koalas are known to live in Lake Macquarie near Mount Sugarloaf, in the Watagans and south of Morisset.
However, koalas are expected to be living in other parts of Lake Macquarie too. A koala was rescued from a telegraph pole in suburban Teralba earlier this year.
Lake Macquarie's koala population is particularly important, as it's believed to be disease-free.
The council's coordinator for environment policy and resilience, Dan Woods, said the survey aims to fill in information gaps about the koala population range.
"There are sightings where people are accessing those bushland areas, and that's how we know where they are," Mr Woods said.
"The other mapping we've done is based on habitat and local koalas' food trees and where they're likely to be.
"There hasn't been any systematic survey of koalas across the LGA. This is filling in those information gaps.
"It's where we see potential koala habitat, but we're actually seeing if they exist there or not."
Previously, koala surveys were conducted by people walking through the bush and searching the branch tops of trees.
Mr Woods said other conservation sniffer dog companies would be used throughout the coming months.
"They can confirm the presence of koalas a lot easier than a human can," he said.
"Once they confirm it, we can come back with other techniques, such as drones, to find out more information about the actual population of koalas in that area."
The results of the survey will be used to shape future council planning policies.
"Once we know what the distribution of koalas is within the local government area, then we can work on developing strategies to protect and conserve their habitat and that koala population," Mr Woods said.
There were plenty of excited onlookers lining up to pat four-year-old English springer spaniel, Poa, on Monday morning in Teralba bushland.
But the excitable sniffer dog wasn't too interested in human attention. She was there to work.
On the first day of Lake Macquarie City Council's koala survey, Poa launched into her work with gusto.
She raced up the steep bush track near Billy's Lookout alongside her handler and ecologist Lily Alvarez, sniffing through leaf litter and fallen branches for koala scat.
"We're doing a 200-metre by 50-metre transect, so a one-hectare search area, and since she's trained to find the odour and lie down with the odour basically between her paws, she'll put her nose on the odour to show us where it is," Ms Alvarez said.
Poa has worked in conservation for two years, helping to sniff out and identify koala scats from up to 100 metres away in Casino and Port Stephens for Mid North Coast-based company Canines For Wildlife.
"It's pretty amazing, just that relationship and that human bond with dogs; it's so strong," Ms Alvarez said.
"So when it's working well, it feels incredible."
Discovering how many of the furry marsupials live in local government areas has become of vital importance since the devastating Black Summer bushfires either killed, injured or impacted the habitat of 60,000 koalas throughout Australia.
The 2020 Legislative Council inquiry into NSW koala numbers and habitat found that the beloved species could be extinct in the state by 2050 if immediate action is not taken to safeguard the population.
The state government provided a $15,000 grant to the council earlier this year as part of its NSW Koala Strategy.
Koalas are known to live in Lake Macquarie near Mount Sugarloaf, in the Watagans and south of Morisset.
However, koalas are expected to be living in other parts of Lake Macquarie too. A koala was rescued from a telegraph pole in suburban Teralba earlier this year.
Lake Macquarie's koala population is particularly important, as it's believed to be disease-free.
The council's coordinator for environment policy and resilience, Dan Woods, said the survey aims to fill in information gaps about the koala population range.
"There are sightings where people are accessing those bushland areas, and that's how we know where they are," Mr Woods said.
"The other mapping we've done is based on habitat and local koalas' food trees and where they're likely to be.
"There hasn't been any systematic survey of koalas across the LGA. This is filling in those information gaps.
"It's where we see potential koala habitat, but we're actually seeing if they exist there or not."
Previously, koala surveys were conducted by people walking through the bush and searching the branch tops of trees.
Mr Woods said other conservation sniffer dog companies would be used throughout the coming months.
"They can confirm the presence of koalas a lot easier than a human can," he said.
"Once they confirm it, we can come back with other techniques, such as drones, to find out more information about the actual population of koalas in that area."
The results of the survey will be used to shape future council planning policies.
"Once we know what the distribution of koalas is within the local government area, then we can work on developing strategies to protect and conserve their habitat and that koala population," Mr Woods said.
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