The Koala Island Foundation’s innovative Koala Snap citizen science project has attracted strong national interest following a showcase at the National Koala Conference in Port Macquarie.
The Raymond Island-based initiative was presented to researchers, conservation organisations, and wildlife professionals by project team member Dr Sai Ravela, a Principal Research Scientist in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Koala Snap utilises artificial intelligence (AI) to identify individual koalas from photographs of their unique nose patterns, offering a non-invasive method to monitor populations accurately and at scale.
Unlike traditional identification methods that require animals to be captured, handled, or tagged, Koala Snap recognises individual koalas from field photographs. Over time, the data helps build a detailed picture of population size, movements, survival rates and localised health trends.
The technology was developed through a partnership between the Koala Island Foundation and an international research team, with Raymond Island providing a vital real-world environment for testing and refinement.
Following the presentation, 10 conservation groups expressed interest in collaborating with the foundation and research team to establish local Koala Snap programs in their own regions.
Koala Island Foundation president Robyn Peile said the response highlighted how a project tailored for Raymond Island could deliver broad conservation benefits.
“We began Koala Snap because we wanted a better way to understand and monitor our own koala population without disturbing the animals,” Mrs Peile said.
“To have organisations from other parts of Australia now interested in using the same approach is enormously encouraging.
“One of the most exciting aspects of Koala Snap is that it combines sophisticated AI technology with citizen science. Local residents and volunteers can collect photographs and observations, while the technology identifies and tracks individual koalas.
“The interest generated at the conference gives us a wonderful opportunity to take something developed here on Raymond Island and contribute to koala conservation much more broadly.”
The Koala Island Foundation also acts as the volunteer custodian of the Raymond Island Koala Trail, one of East Gippsland’s key nature-based tourist destinations. The trail attracts tens of thousands of visitors annually, generating an estimated $4.6 million for the local visitor economy.
The foundation is now exploring how the Koala Snap model can be expanded to help other communities launch regional monitoring programs.
