UVC Wild

03/04/2025

Have you ever seen a platypus playing?
How beautiful to see them so happy and relaxed at our fantastic research partner Emu Valley Rhododendron Garden

03/03/2025

Some other fantastic projects happening in our area 👏

15/02/2025

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03/12/2024

We have been fortunate enough to be supported by Camp Clayton over the last few years in giving us access to study the bandicoots living on their very special grounds. After a November check-in we are pleased to report the bandicoot populations are healthy and thriving! We were able to gain invaluable health data on a total of 11 bandicoots over 2 days, including some new juveniles. We were also happy to reunite with old friends, including an eastern barred bandicoot first caught as a juvenile in October 2023 weighing just 350 grams, who now is an adult at nearly a kilogram and with babies of her own! We are so grateful to everyone Camp Clayton for providing such an amazing refuge for these special animals.
Keep a watch out over the next few weeks as we share some more footage of these young bandicoot

25/11/2024

Last month we had a very special student group join us for a couple weeks of bandicooting and platypus work. As an alumni of The University of Adelaide , Dr Alex was very excited to welcome these final year vet students and Dr Wayne Boardman to get a taste of wildlife medicine in beautiful Tasmania. The students made this fantastic video to memorialize their time here, and have generously allowed us to share it here with you all

29/10/2024

16/05/2024

Bandicoot babies are smaller than a jellybean when they are born, but grow quickly! By their third week of life they have increased from 0.25grams to ~20grams and are growing whiskers and claws. By 6 weeks they are starting to grow fur. By 8 weeks they start to have teeth erupt, and can emerge from the pouch for short periods of time preparing to be weaned. Pouches face backwards to prevent dirt getting in while mum is digging. The baby in this photo is probably about 2 weeks old, it is still attached to the teat, its ears are stuck to the sides of the head still, and it's eyelids haven't formed

30/04/2024

Can you spot the bandicoot?
It is amazing how their fur blends so well into the shadows and vegetation, they can effectively disappear even in a few inches of ground cover

19/04/2024

A few weeks ago we were lucky enough to be invited back to the Turners Beach Berry Patch to check on their resident bandicoots. We are pleased to report that the bandicoot are thriving there, and we managed to recapture this lovely lady we have affectionately called Strawberry. Strawberry is a Southern Brown bandicoot that we first trapped in July 2022 when she only weighed 800 grams. This year she hit the scales at a whopping 1.1kg!

17/04/2024

We would like to thank everyone for the fantastic response to our call out for trapping sites. We are so grateful for everyone who has reached out, whether it is a tip off about sightings or an offer to visit their property. The future is looking bright for bandicoot with such an amazing Tassie community of wildlife lovers

Send a message to learn more

11/04/2024

Do you regularly see brown or barred bandicoot around your property? Are you keen to help our health and conservation research for these incredible animals? Read on to find out how

We are looking for fieldwork sites in North West Tasmania, within 30km of Ulverstone. Suitable sites should:
1) Regularly sight bandicoot (or evidence they are there)
2) Be at least an acre in size
3) Be able to contain any pets away from traps once set

We conduct research session for two or three nights in a row, with traps set at dusk and checked at dawn. After a full checkover, all captured bandicoot are released straight back to their capture location unharmed.

If you think your property might be suitable, please get in touch via the UVC Wild page or email us at [email protected]

10/04/2024

One of our vets managed to capture this footage of an Eastern Barred Bandicoot foraging for food in a local park. Although bandicoot are omnivorous and will eat most things, their absolute favourite food is bugs! We hope this little one found a tasty grub or two for dinner

04/03/2024

Last week we welcomed this fantastic group of veterinary students from the University of Sydney. They will be staying with us for three weeks to learn about conservation medicine.
Here they are practicing their platypus wrangling skills, learning how safely restrain a platypus in order to avoid the spurs

20/12/2023

Friend of UVC Wild and vet nurse Emma made these amazing cupcakes for Dr Alex, inspired by one of our facebook posts. How cute are those little bandicoots!

06/12/2023

No this isn't a scene from the iconic movie Alien!
This Eastern Barred Bandicoot has a pouch full of healthy young bandicoot babies. With three or four young in the pouch, they can really get quite active in there.
After a quick health check, mum was safely released back into the wild with her precious load

27/11/2023

Join our lead veterinarian and resident platypus expert Dr James Macgregor as he explains how we can continue to track platypus movement in the wild

An introduction to the use of in-stream microchip readers to monitor the movements, behaviour and longevity of wild platypuses.

18/11/2023

Thanks again the the students from Murdoch University and the Emu Valley Rhododendron Garden. Great to see happy, healthy platypus thriving in the beautiful gardens.

29/10/2023

This week we are excited to welcome students from Murdoch University to experience a little taste of Tasmania starting with the beautiful Emu Valley Rhododendron Garden. Can you spot the platypus putting on a show for them!
With Kirsty Blakemore & Roisin Callery & Sonia Urbano