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Clancy shows off his moves, changing trees without climbing to the ground. Clancy is a wild male koala, living in the You Yangs near Melbourne, Australia. He was born in 2010, the second son of one of our most researched females - Pat. He's known the Echidna Walkabout Koala Researchers since he was first able to hear and smell, and as a result of our non-intrusive methods of research, he shows very little nervousness about us.

This is what can happen when you are quiet and still in the bush! Echidnas are sensitive to movement, especially from people's feet, so its best to stay completely still if you see an echidna walking by. He/she may even approach you if you are lucky, like I was this day!!

Koalas don't just wander aimlessly through the Bush - they carefully choose their trees, and check each one before climbing. They gain a lot of information this way - they can smell if another koala has touched the tree by sniffing around the base.

This is a form of social etiquette. By knowing what's going on, they avoid nasty surprises (like finding themself in the same tree with another male accidentally).

If you ever see a koala walking on the ground, watch from a distance. You might be lucky enough to see this behaviour. But if you get too close, they will be forced to climb the nearest tree and you'll miss it.

Our Maximum Wildlife tours have been designed to offer the best and most Australian wildlife in the shortest comfortable duration. There is little overlap – so you will see different birds, mammals and reptiles in the Top End than in East Gippsland, which are different again to those seen in the Mungo Outback and Great Ocean Road.

The components of the tour are also designed to run at the best times of year for wildlife-viewing.

Read more: http://www.echidnawalkabout.com.au/se...

Koalas are made for climbing. In trees they adopt an upright stance, a bit like humans. Their legs provide the power and stability and their arms and hands manipulate their food. But they also have to walk on the ground every day, and they do that on all fours.

Their action is unusual - though it works well, you can tell their legs are made for a different sort of movement. When they need to move fast they bound like a possum.

'Cockies' are so much fun! In Australia's Top End, cockatoos are frequently seen. The "Fitzroy Cockatoo" - the Top End subspecies of Sulphur-crested Cockatoo - is noticeably slimmer than the southern subspecies. Fitzroys also have longer crest feathers.

Cockatoos are intelligent, curious and social birds. Watching them in the wild is always interesting.

Join us in the Wild Top End! Every August.

http://www.echidnawalkabout.com.au/wi...

The Great Ocean Road is Australian in a nutshell!

http://www.echidnawalkabout.com.au/to...

We just love a bit of attitude from wild animals! This Agile Wallaby was quite happily munching on grass beside the boardwalk at Mamukala wetlands in Kakadu as we walked quietly out of the hide. She didn't want to be disturbed, so just looked up for a moment, sneered at us a little, and went back to her dinner! Hahahah, love it!

#wildTopEnd
www.EchidnaWalkabout.com.au/wildtopend

Every August since 2008 Roger and Janine, owners and founders of Echidna Walkabout Nature Tours, visit the Top End. Why does it keep calling us back? The people, the wildlife living in balance. It shows us what Australia would once have been. Check out what we love about it in this 1 min video.

This is how we male koalas get the ladies to come to us! We are great singers.. Check out this guy's moves.
Male koalas broadcast their availability to females at the start of the breeding season each year by singing. Our song is low and deep, and carries far through the eucalyptus woodlands of eastern Australia. Lady koalas like a guy with a deep voice, and will go towards the singer they like best!!

For more information on wild koalas follow www.facebook.com/koalaClancy

Ubirr in Kakadu is an excellent site to see Wilkins' (Eastern Short-eared) Rock-wallabies. They have become accustomed to seeing people walk by all day, so the wallabies go about their business without fear - even mating while we watch. Of course, most of the people that walk by don’t see the wallabies in their shady overhangs - but if you're with an Echidna Walkabout Wildlife Guide they will know where to find them! Read more: http://www.echidnawalkabout.com.au/wi...

Join our 21 day Maximum Wildlife tour to see them for yourself.
http://www.echidnawalkabout.com.au/to...

Apostlebirds- Struthidea cinerea - live their whole lives together, in groups of 12 or so – hence the name. They live in Outback Australia. They are a regular sight at Hattah-Kulkyne and Mungo National Parks.

Read about the other 6 Weird Australian Animals we see on the Maximum Wildlife 21 day tour. https://www.echidnawalkabout.com.au/a...

Koalas climbing down a tree usually do so quadrupedally – that is one foot at a time, in the same way as they walk four-legged on the ground. They back down a tree, feet first, looking around for danger the whole time.




Read more at this link: https://www.echidnawalkabout.com.au/b...

Australian Fur Seals are awesome - big, playful, intelligent social creatures. We often see them off West Cape Conran, or at Marlo jetty on our 4 day Wildlife Journey to East Gippsland.

Seeing them is a privilege - their population is only just starting to recover from the terrible days of the sealers. Millions were killed for skins, meat and oil from 1798 to 1950. The populations are recovering well, but haven't reached pre-sealing numbers.

Now they face another threat - entanglement in marine rubbish, particularly fishing net & line. It is estimated that 1000 seals die every year around Australia from entanglement, and 88% of those are pups and juveniles because of their playful, curious nature.

On our Wildlife Journey we and our travellers spend about thirty minutes removing ghost net - washed up fishing net - from the beach. It is easy, especially if you have a sharp knife and a garbage bag.

We all enjoy it! It feels good to do know that you're saving a seal pup's life!

Read more about our Wildlife Journey here: http://echidnawalkabout.com.au/wildli...

Why you should attend the Australian Wildife Tourism Conference, 29 Sept to 2 Oct 2015, at Mercure Geelong.

Australia's most important gathering of wildlife tourism professionals will ask "Can Wildlife Tourism be a force for biodiversity conservation and local economies?

The event will be opened by the Hon. John Eren, Victorian Minister for Tourism, and is being sponsored by Tourism Victoria.

Keynote speakers include Senator Janet Rice (Australian Greens), Dr Anna Thompson-Carr (NZ), Dr Warwick Frost (Australia), Dr Jatna Supriatna (Indonesia), Dr Jeff Skibins (USA) and Christopher Warren (Australia).

Exciting presentations from high profile wildlife operators Craig Wickham (Exceptional Kangaroo Island), Marcus Eldh (Wild Sweden), Janine Duffy (Echidna Walkabout) , Peter Miller (Orangutan Odysseys), Brooke Squires (Zoos Victoria) and Matthew Jackson, CEO of Phillip Island Nature Parks will set the scene for discussion groups each afternoon.

We look forward to hearing the latest research from Dr Ismar Borges de Lima & Dr Betty Weiller (Southern Cross University), Andrew Tribe (University Of Queensland Gatton), Penny Irons (William Angliss Institute), Cassandra Wardle (Griffith Institute for Tourism), Junko Oshima (University of the Ryukyus, Japan), Rie Usui (Hiroshima University), Dr Jennifer Laing, and Kirin Apps (Southern Cross University)

NGO's will also be widely represented, with Justin Foster from Earthwatch Institute, Annette Rypalski from Mt Rothwell, Dr Kaye Rodden from Landcare, John Newman from Geelong Field Naturalists, Marree Kerr from Australasian Bat Society, Catherine Franklin-Hensler from Australian Wildlife Arts Foundation, and others joining us.

There's still time to register: www.wildlifetourism.org.au

Really rare footage of a koala mating attempt in the wild. Female Smoky is a large, high-ranking female and initially encourages the advances of male Ngallo. But at some point he does something wrong, and she starts to fight him off - successfully. He backs away quickly.

The behaviour of koalas in the wild is complex and poorly understood, so protecting koalas wild habitat is critical.

#wildKoalaDay May 3

For more information about koala sex read our blog: https://echidnawalkabout.wordpress.co...

Echidnas are unstoppable. Low ground clearance, short strong legs, powerful digging claws, a reinforced collarbone, body covered in spines – they are accustomed to getting their way.

Echidnas live all over the Australian continent, and have to dig for ants and ant larvae in all kinds of soil. Their prey mount a determined defence of their children – and if you've ever seen inch-long Australian Bullants in defense mode, you know just how scary that can be. Echidnas can't afford to be soft or weak, or give up easily. They are the confident, unwavering force of the Bush.

Watch this short video showing some examples of their abilities!

Seeing wild koalas is really fun. But it is even better when you can learn about them at the same time, from an expert who has been working with them for over 8 years!

Wildlife Guide Martin has seen thousands of wild koalas in his guiding career since starting with Echidna Walkabout in 2007. He knows their behaviour so well, that if something interesting is about to happen - he'll know!

Pink Cockatoos are special. Mungo National Park, in Outback NSW is one of the best places to see them.

#maximumwildlife #mungo

Its been an exciting year for Koala Clancy! A fight in September/October 2015 led to a nasty wound on his lower back. The wound became fly-struck and Clancy started losing weight before our eyes. He was taken into care, his wound cleaned, antibiotics administered.

He was healing well, but his testosterone got in the way. Naturally during breeding season, male koalas have a spike in testosterone. They become very active, singing, chasing females, defending their home range. Clancy, at 5 years old, was in his prime and didn't want to be held back from his territorial and breeding duties. Poor fella was climbing the walls of his enclosure and his stress levels were causing a decline in his health.

His carers conferred with the vets and made the difficult decision to release him, even though his wound was not as thoroughly healed as they would like. The danger of him dying from stress was high, where the danger of his would re-opening was low.

Clancy spent a happy 3 months of breeding season out in his home range. In that time he mated with Ngardang, a young female.

But the flies eventually got into his wound and re-infested it. By February 2016 he was scratching again, and we knew we had to intervene. He went back into care.

Luckily by this time his testosterone had dropped, and he was more content in care. He stayed until late May, when his wound was completely healed, fur had grown back. He was released with a clean bill of health from the vet, and at a whopping 11kg in weight.

A month later we discovered that his mating with Ngardang had been successful - tiny Wurdi emerged as a 6 month old, healthy, cheeky joey.

Clancy is still looking fantastic, and has even taken over more high quality real estate recently! Ngardang and Wurdi are living in part of Clancy's home range and are seen often.

Visit the You Yangs, and possibly meet Koala Clancy, Ngardang & Wurdi on an Echidna Walkabout Koalas & Kangaroos IN THE WILD day tour or 3 day Great Ocean Road tour. Or, if you're a Melbourne/Geelong local, come out on a Koala Conservation Day for Locals which runs 1st and 3rd Sunday of every month.

http://www.echidnawalkabout.com.au
http://koalaclancyfoundation.org.au/y...

Note: Clancy's care and treatment was managed by fully licensed, highly experienced wildlife carers and veterinarians.