Kangaroos get road escape hatches on Bribie Island

The City of Moreton Bay is expanding its wildlife safety efforts, rolling out new roadside escape hatches designed to help kangaroos and wallabies safely exit road corridors on Bribie Island.

The larger fauna hatches are being trialled following the success of a world-first initiative aimed at reducing koala road fatalities, with Bribie Island identified as a wildlife-vehicle collision hotspot.

The hatches operate as a one-way egress device, allowing animals to escape from road corridors into nearby bushland while preventing them from re-entering traffic areas.

Developed by local business Endeavour Veterinary Ecology (EVE) with support from Council, the fauna escape hatch has been designed following extensive scientific testing. The design caters to species that naturally push through or under barriers and can accommodate animals of varying sizes.

Building on a successful koala trial

The macropod trial follows Council’s rollout of 16 fauna escape hatches across wildlife-vehicle collision hotspots during last year’s koala breeding season.

Camera monitoring at two sites showed koalas using the one-way hatches to safely exit road corridors, along with other native wildlife including echidnas. During the 12-month trial, no koala fatalities were recorded at locations where the fauna hatches were installed on roadside fencing.

To help reduce accidents involving larger animals, Council is now working with EVE to trial three macropod-adapted hatches at selected locations on Bribie Island, alongside a further four internally designed hatches developed by Council.

Mayor Peter Flannery said Council was pleased to see the initiative expand.

“Following the promising results of our world-first trial, we are not only looking at where we can install more hatches but how we can use them to protect other native species and road users,” he said.

“Kangaroos and wallabies, like the koala, have substantial populations in the City of Moreton Bay, so we are thrilled that EVE, and our council team have both designed hatches to accommodate these larger species.”

Additional safety measures on Bribie Island

Council has also completed the installation of new fauna fencing along Avon Avenue on Bribie Island, where kangaroos regularly enter the road network.

Division 1 Councillor Brooke Savige said the fencing and larger hatches would help protect both wildlife and motorists.

“The new fauna fencing and large hatches will help protect both wildlife and drivers on Bribie Island,” she said.

“While this green infrastructure will prevent kangaroos and wallabies from crossing the road, we still need drivers to slow down and stay alert for wildlife.”

Designed for broader impact

EVE Technology Manager Natasha Banville said the new hatch was an adapted version of the original design.

“When we designed our fauna escape hatch, we always had in the back of our minds that it was never going to be just for koalas,” she said.

“We’ve seen echidnas, bandicoots and possums interact with the hatch and now we’ve been able to alter its design to cater for macropods.

“When it's estimated that around 10 million native animals are killed on Australian roads each year due to vehicle collisions, research with trials like these are key to reduce human-wildlife conflict on our roads, which are catastrophic, not just for wildlife, but for people on the road too.

“This is really exciting to see a simple but effective device born in southeast Queensland having a real-world impact that could extend Australia-wide.”

Council also continues to install seasonal wildlife warning signs across key collision hotspots in the City of Moreton Bay, reminding drivers to slow down during peak wildlife breeding and dispersal periods.

Moreton Daily will continue to share updates as the trial progresses.