Koala-saving ‘escape hatches’ rolled out in South East Queensland
Moreton Bay has ramped up its koala conservation efforts by installing roadside escape hatches following a successful trial.
A South East Queensland council has installed 49 fauna ‘escape hatches’ to help endangered marsupials and other species to safely exit road corridors to nearby bushland, while preventing re-entry.
The one-way animal doors were developed by Endeavour Veterinary Ecology (EVE) with support from the council and have been installed at various wildlife hotspots across the city, including Youngs Crossing and Samsonvale Road at Joyner, Kremzow Road, Lilley Road and Old Northern Road at Cashmere, and Gympie Road at Petrie and Lawnton.
The installation comes after successful in-network trials of the hatches over a 12-month period, which tested 16 hatches across seven Council-managed roads.
The trials recorded no koala fatalities where the devices had been installed, with camera monitoring showing echidnas, bandicoots and other native wildlife also using the hatches.
Moreton Bay mayor Peter Flannery said he was proud the city would be an early adopter of the innovation.
“The trial showed us that these hatches provide effective exits for native animals when navigating roads, preventing them and road users from being injured or killed,” Flannery said.
He added that Council worked with EVE to improve the design, with updated versions being installed at 49 sites.
“This project is a great example of Council supporting innovation in our City by backing a local organisation’s efforts to develop a new and innovative product, which in this case has proven to be a life-saving device,” Flannery said.
Endeavour Veterinary Ecology environmental manager of technology Natasha Banville said the program demonstrated how local government could support the development of wildlife mitigation infrastructure.
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“What started as a trial to understand how koalas navigate roads has evolved into the Fauna Escape Hatch program through ongoing monitoring, design refinement and collaboration with Council,” she said.
The council utilised a grant from the State Government’s SEQ Koala Threat Management Initiatives (KTMI) Program to roll out the hatches, which have been recently verified by the Infrastructure Sustainability Council.
City of Moreton Bay is also working with EVE to trial larger fauna hatches for marsupials on Bribie Island, a hotspot for kangaroo collisions.
The council will continue to examine locations to deploy the fauna hatches, with plans already in place to install devices at sites in Kallangur and Caboolture.
Other council wildlife protection efforts include the installation of seasonal signs in key wildlife collision hotspots and granting a 10-year community lease for the Moreton Bay Wildlife Hospital to operate the City’s first dedicated wildlife hospital on council-allocated land.
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