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.
