Longleat koala keepers go to Australia to see bushfire recovery

Koala keepers from Longleat[1] have returned to Australia to see how wildlife is recovering following the devastating bushfires. In 2020 two keepers from the park travelled to Cleland Wildlife Park to help with the aftermath of their fires. Three years on, Jon Ovens and James Dennis made the trip back to South Australia to look at how the recovery programme is progressing.

They also visited some of the conservation projects Longleat is supporting. The Wiltshire safari park near Warminster[2] is the only zoological collection in Europe to look after southern koalas. It is part of a long-term partnership with the South Australia Government, Koala Life and Cleland Wildlife Park, in the Adelaide Hills, to support research and conservation programmes for wild koalas.

Jon and James they met up with staff from Cleland Wildlife Park along with relatives of some of Longleat’s own southern koalas. They included Sugar, the mum of Violet and her half-brother Rocket. For James, the trip has also been an opportunity to re-acquaint himself with some of the native wildlife he last saw back in 2020.

He said: “It’s amazing to have the opportunity to come back and see all the amazing work that Cleland and a host of other conservation groups are carrying out to help both the wildlife and nature to recover. “From a personal perspective it’s also lovely to meet some old friends and see how well they are doing. Three years ago, we saw some pretty awful scenes and heard some terrible stories so for me to be able to see first-hand how things have progressed since then is extremely heartening.

“Nature is incredibly resilient and the contrast with what much of the countryside looked like shortly after the bushfires is extraordinary. However, the devastation was so intense and so widespread the teams are still having to deal with the aftermath today and there is always the constant threat of more significant bushfires in the future.”

Longleat keepers Jon Ovens and James Dennis seated with a pair of kangaroos in Cleland Wildlife Park, Australia (Image: Longleat)

As part of the trip, the keepers also got to share experiences of caring for koalas with the Cleland team. They got the chance to go on a eucalyptus leaves gathering trip as well as assisting in wildlife recuperation and recovery programmes.

James and Jon also returned to Minton Farm Animal Rescue, whose work Longleat is supporting. They went to an area known as Scott’s Creek which suffered particularly badly during the bushfires, to see how it was recovering. The pair had the opportunity to meet a range of native species.

They included echidnas, dingoes, kangaroos, possums, Tasmanian devils and wombats as well as koalas.

Since May 2019 Longleat, with the help of generous visitors, has donated nearly GBP120,000 to help fund work being undertaken by a number of wildlife rescue groups including Koala Life, SAVEM (South Australian Veterinary Emergency Management) and Minton Farm Rescue.

References

1. ^ Longleat (www.wiltshirelive.co.uk)
2. ^ near Warminster (www.wiltshirelive.co.uk)
3. ^ Wiltshire Gogglebox stars Giles and Mary release book on country life (www.wiltshirelive.co.uk)