New signs installed to protect koalas on local roads
New vehicle-activated ‘koala zone’ signs have been installed across the Sutherland Shire to help reduce the risk of koalas being injured or killed by vehicles.
Funded by the NSW Koala Strategy, the project supports Sutherland Shire Council to install 6 dynamic road signs at key locations in Woronora Heights, Sandy Point, Barden Ridge and Bonnet Bay where local roads intersect with important koala habitat.
Vehicle strike is a major threat to koalas in south-west Sydney, with 147 koala vehicle strikes recorded between July 2022 and November 2025. Twenty-four of these incidents occurred within the Sutherland Shire.
The new signs are activated by passing vehicles and alert drivers when they are entering a koala zone. They will operate during the koala breeding season (August to February), when koalas are more mobile and can travel up to 2 kilometres a night in search of a mate. The sign will be rotated to different locations approximately every 4 weeks to reduce the risk of drivers becoming habituated to them.
Vehicle-activated signs can reduce driver fatigue and improve awareness at wildlife strike hotspots. It has been demonstrated that motorists are more likely to notice and respond to dynamic, variable message signs compared to static signage, especially when used in targeted locations and for specific seasonal periods (Huijser et al. 2015).
The NSW Koala Strategy has committed $10.6 million to address koala vehicle strike hotspots across the state. Treatments include speed-reduction measures and infrastructure such as fencing and underpasses to help keep koalas and other native wildlife off roads.
Sutherland Shire’s koala population is estimated at more than 200 individuals. The shire is one of 14 councils in New South Wales funded to install koala zone signs as part of this statewide effort to protect koalas and improve road safety for both wildlife and motorists.
Learn more about koala conservation in the region by visiting South-west Sydney Regional Koala Conservation Partnership.
References
Huijser MP, Mosler-Berger C, Olsson M and Strein M (2015) 'Wildlife warning signs and animal detection systems aimed at reducing wildlife–vehicle collisions', in van der Ree R, Smith DJ and Grilo C (eds) Handbook of road ecology, Wiley Blackwell, Chichester, West Sussex.