Narrandera: Why Has Koala Conservation Become a Community Count?

Narrandera sits beside the Murrumbidgee River in the Riverina region of New South Wales, on the traditional lands of the Wiradjuri/Wiradyuri people. Koalas were once considered locally extinct. Nineteen animals were reintroduced in the 1970s, and the council now estimates that about 300 live in and around the Narrandera Flora and Fauna Reserve, among its river red gums.

What matters most is not simply that the population returned, but that conservation did not end with one translocation. The annual Koala Count on 20 September 2026 drew 200 participants, who recorded 49 koalas, including five joeys. That figure is a count from one event, not an estimate of the whole population. Its value lies in building observations across years and teaching residents how to scan the canopy, record locations and notice changes in habitat.

Narrandera is therefore memorable not merely as a town with koalas, but as a farming and river community that has made wildlife monitoring part of civic life. Citizen counts do not replace professional research, yet they can supply continuing observations and turn a broad duty of care into something people do together. Re-establishing a population is a project; returning to observe it year after year makes conservation a local institution.

https://www.narrandera.nsw.gov.au/News-Articles
https://landcare.nsw.gov.au/groups/murrumbidgee-landcare-inc/narranderas-koala-count-citizen-science-driving-conservation-for-45-years-1
https://www.narrandera.nsw.gov.au/Visit