Residents in New South Wales have been surprised by swarms of bogong moths over the past few days. Experts are describing the sightings of the endangered native insect as a cause for excitement, rather than alarm.
Hundreds of moth sightings in coastal areas were posted over the weekend to the iNaturalist page for Bogong Watch, a citizen science initiative. Linnea Emneby, Bogong Watch project manager, reported high numbers from volunteers, with one sentinel sighting over 200 bogongs on Sunday night.
Dr Marissa Parrott, a reproductive biologist at Zoos Victoria, stated that sightings of the endangered moth have increased over the last two years, but "this year has blown them out of the water." She added that September alone has seen more bogong moth sightings than all of last year, leading to hopes for a stronger recovery of the species.
Bogong moths undertake an annual migration of up to 1,000 km to the Australian Alps to escape summer heat. The population experienced a catastrophic collapse of up to 99.5% between 2017 and 2019, having previously numbered an estimated 4 billion annually in the Alps. The moth has been listed as endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature since 2021.
Experts suggest that wetter, cooler weather has likely created favourable conditions for the moths. However, Dr Parrott expressed concern about the strongest El Niño on record and the drier, hotter conditions it could bring to Australia in the coming years.