When Lake Macquarie City Council launched its koala survey program last year, staff were confident the marsupial would be discovered in new areas.
But the results of the koala survey have surpassed expectations.
About 2000 koalas have been detected in bushland around Mount Sugarloaf in the north-western corner of Lake Macquarie, as well as clusters near Teralba, Killingworth and West Wallsend.
"It's just amazing that this large and significant population was probably always there but not seen or recognised," the council's manager of environmental systems, Brendan Callander, said.
"Only in the past one to two years has the potential size, density and distribution of koalas in this area been realised because of the concentration of surveys and the effectiveness of recent survey techniques.
"The population is turning out to be much larger and more dense than expected, with 2000 individuals a fairly conservative estimate.
"The exact size, along with how far it extends, requires further investigation."
The koala survey began last July with sniffer dogs used to detect koala scats near Billy's Lookout at Teralba.
Previous sightings of the endangered species have also been recorded at Bolton Point, Morisset, Wyee, Barnsley and Cameron Park.
The council has also commissioned further surveys to take place in coming months. These will include the use of drones equipped with thermal cameras that can detect a koala's body heat in the tree canopy.
Labor North Ward councillor Brian Adamthwaite presented a notice of motion to the council in March 2025, which called for the exploration of koala guidelines, an allocation of resources towards the marsupial's protection, and the consolidation of habitat corridors.
"At that point, there was no accurate data about anything," Cr Adamthwaite said.
"It was very difficult to explain to people the situation, to look at developments in the future and things like that.
"Now that the council has gone into the process of finding actually where the koalas are and starting to map the koala habitat, it's amazing and 2000 is pretty impressive. It really encourages us for the future."
Cr Adamthwaite said the next step was for the council to use the koala population findings to develop policy and strategy.
The north-western and western side of Lake Macquarie is earmarked for major residential development over the next 20 years.
"It's a matter of looking at the physical constraints and the sociological constraints with the environmental constraints and coming up with a better plan that's going to provide us with what we want for the future," Cr Adamthwaite said.
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