Estimated emu count - less than 50

With population numbers estimated to be below 50, there's never been a more important time for community members and citizen scientists to report sightings of the endangered Coastal Emu. If you see an emu, please register it here. There have been a number of recent sightings of large groups of juvenile emus which is promising. By knowing where our Coastal Emus are, we can work to protect them and their habitats.

Since commencement of NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service annual surveys in 2000, the number of Coastal Emus is estimated to have declined from approximately 140 individuals to just 40 individuals in 2017 (DPE survey data), with a rapid decline since 2015.

The NPWS survey couldn’t be coordinated due to fires in the region in 2017 and have since ceased due to low population numbers and difficulty in detecting the small number of remaining individuals. Whilst gaining accurate estimates of small populations ranging over a large area can be difficult, opportunistic sightings between 2018 and 2019 suggest that there are around 26 adults and 20 juveniles left in the area (CVC 2020). The current best estimate is under 50.

Image Credit: J.Moloney