The true devastation of the Australian bushfires has been brought to light by new research that suggests 80 per cent of ground dwelling species were wiped out in some areas.
It has prompted scientists to use drone technology in search of survivors to help them recover.
On the south coast of NSW in the Shoalhaven region, around 80 per cent of the forest was burnt, wiping out a staggering amount of animals.
Conservationist Douglas Thron says his search material is “pretty much the first of its kind”.
“The setup that I have - using a spotlight and also a zoom lens along with the infrared - is pretty much the first of its kind being used for animals like this."
Kangaroo Island ecologist Pat Hodgens told 1 NEWS seeing the island’s bushfire destruction was devastating.
Researchers have been trying to find out if a population of the threatened Greater Glider survived the December blaze.
Numbers of the marsupial are dwindling, and a lot of its habitat was destroyed in the fires.
But, using his particular setup, Mr Thron has successfully spotted the glider alive in the forest.
Surveys commissioned by WWF Australia found fire affected sites typically lost all ground cover and nearly all of the canopy.
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