News Archive

IN THE WILD 2008 Brochure
Special Sightings!  May 2009
New Koala baby Pitta  see her video on You Tube.
East Gippsland birds are again in the news! January 2009
Raini's news about the birds - October 2007
Goodbye Raini - February 2008
Smoky's new baby - April 2008
Zelda and the Brown Snake
Bubba the Magpie - October 2007
Australian Fur and Feathers tour
Finally, Some rain in Winter 2007
Updates on the January 2006 Bushfires page
National Geographic and our Koala Research - April 2007
Emu encounter - November 2006
Emu update - Alex
Emus breeding
Rudi - our baby Koala grown up
East Gippsland Tours during Winter
East Gippsland
Visitors from around the world
Koalas are loved around the world!
Koalas Research update
Koala Life
Plenty of birds in East Gippsland!
Wildlife Carers - Marilyn and Helen
Adopt a Wombat!
Plenty of birds in East Gippsland!
Autumn in Melbourne, Victoria
Winter in Melbourne
Bush regenerating after bushfire - July 2006
Bush regenerating after bushfire - February 2007
Bushfire season 2007 - March 2007 Black Saturday bushfires 2009
Bushfires and the Koalas - February 2007
Summer 2006/2007
Summer in Melbourne
Spring 2006
ATE 2005 in Perth
You Yangs Regional Park
ATE 2006 
ATE 2009
Thank you for bushfire support and donations

The 'IN THE WILD' brochure includes our newest tour - the Croajingolong Journey a private 4 day tour in the wilderness where you can relax in luxury.

The brochure also features some of the wonderful photographs taken by overseas guests. Thank you Jeroen Wolfslag, the Netherlands; Alan Wyatt, UK; Elias Snaeland Jonsson, Iceland and Janna Veeren, the Netherlands. 

Special Sightings!

We are recording any unusual or 'special' sightings during our tours and research trips. The Special Sightings photos can be found on Picasa as well as photos from Janine's Koala Research report.

Sometimes it may be unusual behaviour or fantastic moments captured of animals we see regularly or animals and birds that we do not commonly see in our travels.   

These sightings are being reported to the local National Park Rangers and the Field Naturalists Club and are providing some valuable information which is being included in their publications.   This is in addition to the reports that Janine provides as part of the Koala Research program.

Some of these included many Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos, three Brushtail Possums in one hollow, a group of Sugar Gliders, as well as a pair of frisky Swamp Wallabies, pair of mating Willie Wagtails and a pair of very 'cosy' looking Echidnas - and Spring is over!

One small honeyeater visited guests and stayed with our group to try and avoid a menacing Falcon who finally gave up and left it alone. One large Wedge Tailed Eagle was on ground waiting to feed but being hassled by smaller Whistling Kites and another couple have been seen chased by Magpies.

We have also seen Buff-rumped Thornbills, Silvereyes,Red-browed Firetails , Yellow Thornbills, Spotted Pardalote, Superb Fairy-wrens, Grey Fantails, King Parrot, Rainbow Bee-eaters, Yellow-billed Spoonbill and Tawny Frogmouths during recent tours.

New Koala baby Pitta - can you see her?

Mother koala Pat, a wild three year old koala in our Koala Research Project in the You Yangs, surprised us by climbing down her tree with brand new baby Pitta clinging on to her belly. All this while we watched, amazed at her courage! Pat has known us since she was a one year old baby, just a little bigger than her baby is now.

She trusts us a little, but it is still a big risk to take a tiny baby onto the ground in front of human observers. Paul (who took this great footage) carefully kept everyone still so as not to frighten Pat at all.

Watch how quickly Pat moves, and gets up the next tree, and how well hidden baby Pitta is on her belly.

Goodbye Raini

Those of you who met our lovely old lady koala Raini will be saddened to hear that she passed away on 29th February. She also featured in our recent news item [on the left]. We found her on the ground, looking dejected, and took her into koala hospital. But her kidneys had failed and she passed away a few days after. She was comfortable, warm and well fed and died in her sleep. She gave many people a lot of happiness and we all miss her terribly.

Smoky's new baby

Smoky, Raini's close neighbour, has an active pouch! Janine saw a distinct bulge and an obvious slit where the pouch opening would be. So the strange behavior that we had observed on 4 Feb may well have been Smoky giving birth, which would make this youngster 24 days old. When first born he/she would have been between 0.5 and 1 gram, and about 2cm (nearly 1 inch) long. Let's cross our fingers that this little one lives as good a life as Raini! It is very unusual and special to be privileged to witness this in the wild.

Thank you to the team

A very busy cruise ship season has just finished in mid April. We have been able to provide memorable experiences for many hundreds of overseas visitors thanks to our great team - Alison, Bill, Tim, Paul, Tatiana, Mary, Sarah, Lizzie, Martin, Belinda and Joanne who have also made some new overseas friends. The stars of the Kangaroos and Koalas tours have again been our wonderful wildlife who have been most tolerant of us and often provided some perfect photo opportunities for our guests.

Zelda and the Brown Snake

Everyone's a bit nervous about snakes in Australia. We love them, but we're still careful - you know, you don't ever take them for granted! But have you ever wondered what other animals think about living with snakes?

We saw a very special thing late in March. It was very, very hot and a very proud older lady koala Zelda (see first pic), was sitting on the ground beside a waterhole. It was the coolest place to be, and she could put her feet in the water when it got too much to bear. It was her version of going to the beach! Koalas in the You Yangs often sit on the ground on very hot days, but they usually jump up into a tree as soon as they hear people coming along. Sometimes, though, if you're very quiet, you can see something special!

Our Savannah Walkabout small group came up quietly, and saw lovely Zelda on the ground. She was even drinking from the waterhold while they watched (middle pic). Then, as they watched in amazement, an Eastern Brown Snake appeared and slithered calmly past Zelda! It is very difficult to see - in the third pic to the left of Zelda, beautifully camouflaged amongst the sticks and leaves on the ground. He passed within centimetres of her, and she didn't even blink! Most of us would have fainted!

The Eastern Brown Snake is considered to be the fourth deadliest snake in the world. They are beautiful animals. We rarely see them, as they are so shy. But you know, the threat from snakes in Australia is vastly overplayed - they don't want to hurt us, or koalas or any large animal that they can't eat! Zelda proved that to us. Sometimes we humans just need to "chill out"!!!

News directly from 'Raini' - our lovely old lady koala

“It's tough being a wild koala you know. Everyone thinks we have the easiest life - just sleeping, eating and sitting around. Well, it's easy for you to say! No warm bed to snuggle up in at night - we're just stuck out on a bare branch in all weather. So we have to have warm, thick, water-repellant fur for those cold winter nights. Then, of course, the sun comes out and we have to put up with 30 degrees C (90F) in our fur coats all on the SAME DAY!!!

As if that's not enough, lately we have had insult added to injury. These pesky little birds - White-naped Honeyeaters - want our warm fur to line their nests! So they fly over, perch on our bottoms, and pluck out our fur! It's disgraceful. You should have seen this cheeky one the other day. He had so much of my fur in his beak he could hardly fly for the weight of it. Ha Ha, served him right. Looked like he'd grown a beard!

But that's not the worst of it. My mate Tim Tam has a family of Brown-headed Honeyeaters living near him. They don't come for fur one by one, they come in hordes! See this picture if you don't believe me. He had about ten of them around him, doing flypasts, swooping and distracting him, while two at a time jumped on him and plucked. Ouch!”

[from Janine: “this is fair dinkum! Actually, some of the koalas seem to enjoy it. They have been losing their winter coats, so it might be like getting a good brushing. Others, like Tim Tam, look really annoyed!”]

Bubba the Magpie - October 2007

Bubba is a temporary member of the team – he is a baby Magpie who fell out of the nest and broke his leg. He is very demanding and is not providing any help at all. His mum and dad have been friends of Janine’s for a few years so she and Roger were soon on the spot to rescue him quickly and care for him with Vet advice and wildlife shelter support. He is spending more time with us than we anticipated as he needs some daily physio to get his feet working properly.

Corroboree 2007 in NSW in September was a great opportunity to meet up with the Aussie Specialists from USA and get to know some new agents. We were also delighted to hear that our presentation was voted as the top Aussie Experience presentation by the Aussie Specialist agents in attendance!

Australian Fur and Feathers tour

Our newest tour is proving popular with overseas visitors. This relaxing 3 day module showcases the very best wildlife of southern Australia - see large mobs of wild Kangaroos, track down wild Koalas and walk quietly beside wild Little Penguins as they emerge from the ocean in the evening as well as many more wild animals and birds. That’s why we’ve named this tour Australian Fur and Feathers - in the wild!

Finally, Some rain in Winter 2007

Could you help please? We've forgotten a whole range of words, because we haven't used them for so long (particularly in Victoria). There is a word for the water that falls from the sky. Then there's a word for water lying on the ground - it starts with p... we think.... And suddenly we need these words! It's so exciting!!

Yes, you guessed it - we've had rain!

Not just a shower or two, but real, drought-breaking rain! At Serendip, where the kangaroos live, we've had more rain in these last six months than in the whole of last year. In one night we had 19 mm (nearly an inch) and for a place that only had about 250mm (10 inches) for a whole year, that is pretty good!! Victoria's water catchment levels are actually starting to rise slightly - still way below half full though.

Better still, there is grass on the ground and leaves on the trees!

The kangaroos are jumping for joy (well, as you know they jump anyway, but we are sure there's more spring in their step!)

The koalas are drinking like fish. And they say koalas don't drink! Actually, they do - when rain runs down the trunk of the tree they lick it.

They even get water by licking their wet fur, when they are really thirsty (see pic of Mary). It is so cute - their tongues are thick and pink, just like ours!

We are so happy, and hoping that it just keeps on raining....
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National Geographic and our Koala Research - April 2007

December 2006 was very exciting when the team from National Geographic UK spent 3 days filming Janine and the Koalas. Some of our friends overseas have emailed to let us know that they have seen the vignette on the TV or the article which appears in the April issue of the National Geographic magazine in some areas. The National Geographic vignette is a large Quicktime movie.

We are hoping that this promotion will assist in gaining more support for the Koalas which only remain in isolated pockets in eastern Australia. Disasters such as the recent bushfires threaten these populations and diminish the gene pool. There are many ways that people can support them so please let us know if you wish to get involved. Some people may want to donate or buy some of Janine's art. top of page

Summer 2006/2007

It has been a very busy and interesting summer and autumn for the Echidna Walkabout team.

The summer stayed later this year with warm weather until start of May. We have now had some very welcome light rain. Our water supplies are still very low and much more rain is needed if the long drought is over. The paddocks are becoming a little greener in the first week of May and our native animals and vegetation need the rain as it has been a very tough few years. top of page

Emu encounter - November 2006

Some people are not afraid of anything! They are rare, but they exist. They are always the ones you least expect - like the wonderful lady in mid November. Janine had just mentioned that emus are attracted to people who are small and silly, and before I knew what was happening, the lady had disappeared! Next I saw she was creeping towards two emus on hands and knees, through the bush. In her lovely white pants, I might add....

Well! The emus were FASCINATED! Like me, they did a double-take. The two of them suddenly switched direction, and the big female (female emus are bigger than males and more courageous) boldly strode up to my friend! From only 2 metres away they regarded each other solemnly. Confident female bird meets brave female human. It was beautiful.

Janine decided not to leave her alone, hunched up and crept up to join her. Mistake! The emus turned away in disgust and walked off. Do they know Janine already? And have they seen all she has to offer, and no longer of any interest? She learned a hard lesson that day - sometimes she is just not required!

Emus are deeply curious and fairly confident in their domain. So sometimes with the right approach, you can get close to wild emus - appeal to their sense of fun by doing something silly! And as emus are normally gentle creatures (it is very rare for them to become aggressive - only in captivity or if defending young). Aboriginal friends have taught us the right method with emus, and it really does work.
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Emu update - Alex

Charlie's baby is doing well and is about 3 foot/1 metre tall - and now looks like a little adult emu with a black furry neck. She/he now mixes in with the other adult emus and is quite confident. As it will be a long time before we know whether he/she is a girl or boy we have chosen the name Alex after a friend's child in the USA. (If you missed the story to date see the earlier emu story in the news archive).

In November 2005 we told you about Alex - and here is the evidence showing how big he is in December.

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Emus breeding

There's always something going on - even in the depths of winter. Emus choose this time of year to breed, which is probably very smart - (and can I tell you something? Emus are very intelligent! More about that some other time...)

Two chicks underneath their Dad

An exhausted looking Male Emu - sitting on
most of his eggs.

Anyway, our favourite emu fella, Charlie, set up nest in the middle of an island in the billabong. (Once again, very smart!) He had 10 glossy blue-green eggs, each the size of a small football, and he sits on them for two months, not eating properly and never leaving them. He loses stacks of weight, poor fella. And here's the rub - where's his loving wife, mother of these children? Nowhere to be seen! After she lays the eggs she clears out forever and goes shopping with the girls.....

On 3 August 2005, visitors from Newport Beach, California were with us when we were lucky enough to see Charlie's first day old chick. We quickly moved on without taking a photo as he was a nervous parent.

And Rudi our little baby Koala is now a big boy!

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East Gippsland tours

Our scheduled Wildlife Walkabout and Snowy River Secrets tours to East Gippsland take a rest for winter and will begin again in September ... and we can't wait to welcome in the Spring in this wonderful wilderness region. Spring is the best time to see the wildflowers and the chaotic activity of birds nesting, egglaying and feeding their young.
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East Gippsland

It is wonderful to be back visiting East Gippsland following the winter break and seeing Spring at its best. We are looking forward to some marvellous tours in the next few months.

High in the mountain forests of East Gippsland, the brilliant red Waratahs are flowering!
They look so bright against the green and white background of Tree Ferns and giant Shining Gum trees.

Every year in November, the flowers in the mountains bloom - the swathe of deep orange of the Bush-pea, great bunches of white where the Christmas Bush or Daisy-bush are, the Golden Everlasting making a deep yellow border along the road, and the rare but exquisite flower of a ground orchid - tiny white Lady's Fingers and yellow & black Leopard Orchids.

Down the hills, the black-barked Silvertop Ash Gum Trees are sending out new leaves, which appear as a glowing red halo on the tops of the trees.

Wallabies are enjoying the warm weather in the mountains (their winter can be cold, with occasional snow!)

Black Swamp Wallabies abound in the dense forest around Errinundra and Buchan (where their dark colouring blends in beautifully), and are usually seen alone.

Red-necked Wallabies prefer the high, open plains and are often found grazing on farms in small groups. They look just like little Grey Kangaroos, but have more red colouring around the face and neck, and a pretty white stripe on both cheeks.

All wallabies are really just small kangaroos and have much in common with their bigger relatives. In fact, telling the difference between all our species of wallabies, kangaroos and wallaroos can be a challenge!

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Visitors from around the world

The Echidna team has had a hectic summer season of tours and meeting some wonderful wildlife lovers from around the world who we would love to see again in the future - USA, Denmark, Japan, Canada, UK, Netherlands, Austria, France, Ireland, New Zealand, Mexico, Costa Rica, Philipines and even Reunion and Gibraltar. [what a wonderful way to earn a living!!].
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Koalas are loved around the world!

Koalas are very popular with people of all ages in so many countries. Their welfare and future is of keen interest around the world. We are always meeting people who tell us that the koala is their favourite animal - and what good taste they have!

• Recently we have been talking with a real koala lover - Carla Sluiter from Netherlands who has a dutch language website which supports the Koala Hospital in Port Macquarie, NSW - www.koalaziekenhuis.nl - and talks about seeing Koalas in the wild with our tours as well.
• Catie, a sophomore from Pennsylvania, is studying koalas and has been accessing our Koala Research web information and emailing for more information - hope to see you Downunder sometime Catie.
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Koala Research update

Koala Research!

November 2007 - The program is going well in the You Yangs and the Brisbane Ranges but of course much more time would be wonderful. Our friend Marilyn [wildlife carer] has been providing some valuable information as she is spending hours a day searching and monitoring Koalas. 6 Koalas burnt in the bushfires were rehabilitated, tagged, released and their locations monitored by GPS. They are very hard to find as they have moved around and so the whole area and its Koalas are being surveyed and information recorded regularly.

Koala Research workshop!

In November 2007 Janine spent some valuable time doing her favourite research - staying 'in the wild' with her Koala friends.

As well as watching, talking and getting to know them all better she updates her research information. This includes each Koala's home range, health, who is new in the area and any evidence of new babies, etc. She also gets some new photos and sometimes even the opportunity to do some drawing. We will update the individual Koala webpages.
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Koala Life

Breeding season is now over, though the males kept wandering around hoping until late March! Any babies would be in the pouch by now, and growing quickly. We have our fingers crossed hoping for a few babies this year! We should know by August, but we might have some idea earlier if the mother's are co-operative and walk around showing off their round bellies!

Female koalas have pouches, just like kangaroos, but koala pouches are very low on the mother's belly, with an opening on the underside. Sounds crazy, since the mother spends most of her day upright, but the muscles of the pouch opening are very strong and the baby doesn't fall out. The tiny baby is born about January, and crawls into the pouch, where it will stay, warm and sheltered until around August or September. Before then, though, some babies peek out to see the world, and we have seen little furry heads, arms and legs poking out of the pouch as early as June!
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Thank you

Thank you to so many of you who have sent messages of support and donations since the bushfires in January. We have lost a lot of Koala friends but learnt and gained as well. We have made some new friends and been amazed at the depth of feeling for koalas amongst you and our past clients. Some Koalas are still in care.

Special thank you to the fourth grade pupils at Linscott-Rumford School in Woburn, MA in USA for your concern for the koalas and your wonderful donation. One of our recent clients told them about the bushfires and the children wanted to collect money to help in their recovery.

Carla Sluiter from Netherlands with her dutch language koala website has also supported the carers here - www.koalaziekenhuis.nl

Some of you have donated to the special fund we set up for these koalas secure payment facility.
ALL donations have been put towards direct expenses related to the ongoing rescue and rehabilitation of koalas burnt and damaged in the 2006 Brisbane Ranges bushfires and the Framlingham fires of December 2006. This work is still continuing with expenses - veterinary, dressings and food. Some koalas may still come in for care as eye and breathing problems often show up later.

Donation amounts and expenses are being monitored and reported on this website. Donations have been about $1500 with most of this going directly to Wildlife Victoria and used to reimburse wildlife carers. We received a further $465 and this has all been used to reimburse carer's expenses for medical dressings, xray costs and special formula.
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East Gippsland birds are again in the news!

A recent tour guest on the Wildlife Walkabout in East Gippsland is a top birdwatcher in Denmark, on his second trip to Australia. He knew all our birds, from the book - he just hadn't seen them yet. It was a real pleasure to travel with him. Some highlights in addition to our normal wildlife encounters and around 100 different bird species included one female Southern Emu-wren, Clamorous Reed-warblers (lots of them) a Golden-headed Cisticola, a Pilotbird, two Spotted Quail-thrushes and 3 Bassian Thrushes! We also saw an Australian Fur-seal playing off the rocks and a Southern Brown Bandicoot which showed himself to the lady guest.

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Plenty of birds in East Gippsland!

After a recent tour with us, Jim Peterson from Texas has added to his website some much needed information about the birdlife of East Gippsland - see http://www.nctexasbirds.com/home/egippsland Thank you very much Jim.
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Wildlife Carers

We are pleased that there is more awareness now of the dedicated people who look after our native wildlife in Australia and we are keen to support them wherever we can. They are registered volunteers who rescue and rehabilitate our injured and orphaned wildlife without any government assistance. Marilyn at Beremboke Wildlife Shelter is near the Brisbane Ranges and has been looking after animals from the bushfires as well as others with injuries. She has a very professional and caring way and is often helped by Anne, the Vet.

Some of you have made donations to help contribute to this work and we are so grateful. All of these funds have taken some of the financial pressure off and been directly applied to medical expenses, dressings, special formula and food. Koalas and others are STILL in care so all donations are still most welcome.
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Adopt a Wombat

We also work closely with Helen Velden at Cape Conran Wildlife Shelter in East Gippsland who covers a very large area in Victoria's wilderness region. Her particular love and regular guests are the wombats particularly the orphans who she often has in care for a long time. She also cares for all other native wildlife as well. YOU can support Helen by adopting one of her special characters which would provide much needed help for the shelter.
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Autumn in Melbourne, Victoria

We have just finished our warmest April on record!! Our Autumn (Fall) weather is usually mild and often more settled than other seasons. But this year we have had very warm weather right through April, and May has started well too. The look of the Bush changes subtly from summer to autumn - our native trees are evergreen so our Bush remains green all year round, but some of the gum trees lose their bark at this time of year, resulting in a wonderful display of oranges, yellows, blues and reds on the trunks of the trees. Ribbons of old bark hang loose from the trees, waving and sighing in the breeze. These curls of bark are home to many small creatures, which attract beautiful insect-eating birds like the Crested Shrike-tit.

The first wildflowers will start to bloom very soon - many of our native plants don't wait until Spring, as the weather is so temperate, year round. Wattles (acacias) are some of the first to burst forth with their fuzzy, round yellow blossoms, and their buds have already appeared on the branches. With all these flowers right through the year, no season is unwelcome!
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Winter in Melbourne, Victoria

Our tours around Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road continue all year. Melbourne's winter weather is much milder and shorter than many people experience in their own countries. Our native animals are quite active - especially kangaroos. Wildflowers start blooming very early (some have started already) so there is a lot of colour in the bush. In addition, the shorter days of winter are a benefit on the day tours as we get the chance to enjoy the late afternoon sunshine slanting down through the gumtrees.

We are having some lovely sunny days with chilly mornings. However we are hoping for some rain during the next few months as Victoria is still experiencing drought conditions. Victoria has just finished an Autumn which was the driest since 1900 and the warmest since 1950. (Australia is the driest inhabited continent on Earth). We will welcome some rain, even if we are out on tour, as our rain is not usually heavy or long lasting.... and it only snows in the mountains.
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Summer in Melbourne

Our busiest time is here again and we are looking forward to making some more friends as well as catching up with some 'older' friends from overseas. Our Christmas will be the usual wonderful gettogether (probably hot food on a hot day) with all our extended family. We wish you all the best for the holidays.

As well as our usual smaller group tours, the cruise ships will be visiting Melbourne again. We host some very large groups who are keen to see our Australian wildlife in their natural surroundings "in the wild".
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Spring 2006

Spring came enthusiastically to Melbourne this year with some very pleasant weather - similar to what our European guests and clients were experiencing this September during Autumn/Fall.

A very busy season has arrived which includes an increased number of cruise ship tours this year. While we specialise in personalised small group tours we are also experienced with large groups as well. For many years we have been successfully conducting cruise ship tours with very large groups of guests, so we look forward to making a lot of new friends as well as seeing some old friends.

Janine has just returned from visiting some of our agent friends who were most welcoming and it was a great opportunity to get to know all the office staff we usually only communicate with by email or phone.

Our bushfire areas are regenerating and we predict that we will see some amazing wildflowers this year. The animals and birds are returning to the bush although it will still be some time before things settle down.

Our three most famous Koalas - Bear, Ingrid and Jamie are being monitored regularly and seem to be doing very well following their dangerous and stressful experiences during and after the bushfires.

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Black Saturday bushfires 2009

A HUGE THANK YOU for all the messages we have received from our friends overseas who have seen reports of our current bushfires in Victoria.

Melbourne has experienced record high temperatures and wildfires again. Saturday 7 February was a killer day in every sense - hot gale-force winds and a temperature of 48degrees Celsius (118.4 F) combined with years of drought to produce a very quick but devastating series of bushfires. At this stage 173 people have been confirmed dead and over 750 homes lost.

There is no way of knowing how much wildlife has been lost, but the numbers will be very high. Our Wildlife Carer friends Marilyn and Helen will be very busy doing rescues and caring for the injured in the weeks and months to come.

We have been very lucky. On the Western side of Melbourne we had no fires. Our koalas and kangaroos are safe, and our wildlife habitat is not in danger. Janine spent Saturday monitoring wildlife and watching for fires. All the koalas were on the ground, huddled under branches and vegetation to keep cool.

The weather has moderated and cooled, and we even had some rain in the west. Current conditions are fine outside of the fire zone and we are hoping it will all be over very soon without any further tragedy.

Our tours are all running - the Savannah Walkabout, Great Ocean Road and Australian Fur & Feathers are not threatened in the foreseeable future. Our East Gippsland tours - the Wildlife Walkabout and Croajingolong Journey - are a long way East of the current fires, so not in danger either.

This is global warming. For us, it's fires & drought. For North Queensland it's floods. For the US it's hurricanes in the east & fires in the west, for South-east Asia it's floods, and floods in UK & Europe. Knowing the problem is the first step to making it better. We believe we can help fix this, just by talking about it and starting a ground swell!

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Bush regenerating after bushfire - July 2006

The bush is regenerating 6 months following the bushfire and animals are getting around and feeding on the epicormic growth. There have been many koalas 'travelling through' and it may be another year before they settle into new home ranges. We are always thrilled to see our Koala friends Bear who is well settled back into the bush and Ingrid and Jamie who remained in their area throughout the fire. We are still hoping to see some of our friends come back to the area. We have made new Koala friends in the You Yangs and want to continue these new relationships as well.
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Bush regenerating - January 2007

There are lots of Eastern-grey Kangaroos, Swamp Wallabies and small birds in the bush that burnt a year ago. They are sheltering from the heat in the thick new growth at the base of the Gum-trees It is cool and shady down there. (Janine crouched down under the growth beside a tree to see what it felt like - just beautiful!).

Under every second tree there are animal tracks, droppings and crushed leaves. The burnt bush has become a haven for wildlife. It almost seems that The Bush is doing her best to shelter and feed her animal inhabitants. top of page

Bushfires and the Koalas - February 2007

As you may have heard there have been bushfires in Victoria again this year which started very early in the season. Many wildlife have again been burnt and of course the Koalas are vulnerable. There is more hot summer to come so we are hoping for lots of rain.

Our friend and wildlife carer, Marilyn at Beremboke Wildlife Shelter has taken in 8 of the burnt koalas from another area to help out. As well other animals and birds, she has Mumma K in care from last January's fires and we are so pleased that her claws have grown back and she is now having special manicures to help shape them ready for release as soon as the bushfire threat is over.

When Lena, an orphan from the new fires was introduced to Mumma K she immediately adopted her so that has been great for both of them. Lena is also attaching herself to other females and sharing herself around.

Koalas rescued from last year's fires and released healthy, weeks or months later, are being seen in the area again as it grows back. Bear (right) is looking just great. Our other famous friends - Ingrid and Jamie in the Brisbane Ranges are also doing very well and ALL have been showing some real interest the opposite gender - a great sign!

We had thought Caz and others were just passing visitors to the area but they are back and looking wonderful.

We are learning so much that contributes to our knowledge of the Koalas and benefits Koala research.

Bushfire season 2007 - March 2007

One Victorian forest which had a large population of Koalas was 90% burnt in mid January which was devastating for the resident Koalas. Some survivors are still recuperating in care with volunteer wildlife carers. Three of the koalas that Marilyn at Beremboke Wildlife Shelter had in care are now healthy and back in the bush.

You Yangs Regional Park - January 2007

The You Yangs has a large and healthy population of wild koalas. In an area of about 1 square kilometre around the main access tracks, we have identified over 30 resident koalas in the space of just one year. This has been very valuable for our Koala Research project.

We were delighted to return Nina You Yangs to her baby on New Year's Day - a wonderfully positive start to a new year. As we mentioned last month, we met her for the first time in the You Yangs on 3 December. She is beautiful! Along with her wonderful carer Marilyn we were all very eager to get her healthy and return her to her baby in the bush.

ATE 2005 in Perth

We were very busy with The Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE) during June - Australia's biggest tourism trade event. Hundreds of international travel agents converge on Australia (Perth this year) to meet with Australian tour operators, hotels, etc. We have made many friends over the years and it was wonderful to see them here in Australia.

Roger looked after the Melbourne operations - with tours and famils happening during this time as well. This is a great opportunity for overseas agents to see exactly what we do while they are in Australia.
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ATE 2006

ATE was held in Adelaide this year and Janine represented Echidna Walkabout at this special tourism event meeting with agents from around the world while Roger, Belinda, Alison and the team looked after operations during our busiest June in 14 years. This has been followed by a long overdue and well earned holiday for Janine and Roger - leaving Alison and Belinda (and the two resident cats - Flipper and Jack) in charge.
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ATE 2009

The Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE) is THE annual event for the Australian tourism operators - the overseas industry comes to Australia to check out our very best tours and accommodation. Melbourne is hosting this year's ATE which opens in next week - we are excited about welcoming our overseas industry colleagues back to the best city in Australia. We have been exhibiting at ATE for about 15 years - it is an important, busy and exciting time in the Echidna Walkabout calendar.

Last year ATE was held in Perth and we were proud to be selected by Tourism Australia as a featured tour operator in their first Green Watch newsletter (you'll find us on page 3)

Check out our Environmental Policy and practices.

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