Australian Wildlife Services successfully completed aerial surveys of the Angas Downs Indigenous Protected Area and surrounding lands in June 2010. The survey was flown by Dr George Wilson using standard procedures.  IPA Rangers and Jennifer Smits (AWS) counted animals seen at low level and 200m on either side of the aircraft. Species targeted /observed included camels, kangaroos, horses, feral cattle, emus, euros, dingos and bustards (turkeys).

The study was vital to understanding populations of kangaroos and pressures from camel and horse populations on the property and hence native wildlife.  We found there are about 3000 red kangaroos on the station, plus 500 camels and 150 horses.

Using mapping program ArcGis 9.3, observations were interpolated to form maps showing spatial variability (animals/km2) of populations across the region. Estimated average density rates of kangaroos and camels across Angas Downs was 0.88±0.17 and 0.18±0.06 per km2 respectively. It was noted that camel populations were largely dispersed due to recent high rainfall in central Australia (as at June 2010). Spatial variability of grazing pressures was also investigated.

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