Indigenous Rangers Track Rare Rock Wallaby using Thermal Imaging Drones

Nyikina Mangala Rangers Raymond Charles, Jeremiah Green, Albert Watson, and Shaquille Millindee working at the Erskine Range. Courtesy of WWF, 2022.

First Nations rangers are combining traditional knowledge and cutting edge technology to monitor Australia’s rarest wallaby species in the Kimberley region of WA. The Nyikina Mangala Rangers have been tracking the endangered black-footed rock-wallaby, or wiliji as it is known by Traditional Owners since 2013. In partnership with Walalakoo Aboriginal Corporation, Charles Darwin University, WWF Australia and the local rangers have started using thermal imaging drones as a more timely and cost-effective way of capturing the  wiliji population data (SBS, 2022). 

Black-footed rock-wallabies are small agile marsupials that live among outcrops and caves. They are only found on Walalakoo Country in the Grant, Edgar and Erikine Ranges of west Kimberley. Unfortunately, due to the impact of introduced predators and wildfires, the species’ population of 2,500 has been reduced down to an estimated. In an interview with SBS News (2022), WWF Australia’s Species Conservation Manager Dr Leigh-Ann Woolley explained how significant the monitoring of this species is in order to protect them from these threats: 

“It’s vital to understand how this culturally-important species is tracking, so the rangers can monitor population response to any management interventions they apply, such as fire and feral cat management.”

Black-footed rock-wallabies. Image by Paul Balfe, courtesy of Flickr, 2017.

Up to date tracking of the wallabies has been conducted through the use of sensor cameras and some live trapping. Both of these methods are incredibly labour intensive, particularly in the difficult terrain black-footed rock-wallabies inhabit. Through initial trials, rangers and researchers have seen that drones can provide a far time and cost-efficient method to track the wallabies (WWF, 2022). Dr Leigh-Ann Woolley says that thermal imaging drones could be a game changer:

“They allow us to monitor the wiliji when they leave their rocky outcrops and caves at night. And if the drone survey method proves to be accurate and reliable, it has the potential to be applied to other rock-wallaby populations across Australia.”

The thermal imaging cameras installed on the drones will allow rangers to track heat signatures of the wallabies. Nyikina Mangala head ranger, Jeremiah "Modra" Green, has been taught how to fly the drones. In an interview with ABC News (2022), he says that drones make the tracking work much easier:

“When you fly the drone you can see more areas and you can go closer to the caves, fly to the caves and see what's there and where they travel, their tracks."

Once rangers are able to accurately track population numbers, the next challenge is to protect black-footed rock-wallabies from bushfires, environmental damage caused by cattle and feral cats (ABC, 2022). 

Here at Yarn, we love being able to share stories from Indigenous communities who are achieving incredible things for the protection of their Country and its inhabitants. It’s incredible to see traditional Indigenous knowledge being combined with modern technology to help protect this precious species.

You can learn more about Nyikina Mangala Rangers and Walalakoo Aboriginal Corporation and their important ongoing work here.