Much of Australia's native wildlife is unique to this continent, having evolved over the past 50 million years largely in isolation to the rest of the world. As a result, most of Australia’s native wildlife does not naturally occur outside the continent.

Australia today is vastly different to the environment that its native wildlife evolved in. Habitats have been lost or fragmented, non-native species have been introduced, the impacts of industrialisation have become evident in climate change and increased pollution levels and new diseases are emerging. All of these changes pose new challenges for wildlife on this old continent.

Some of Australia’s native wildlife has thrived but much of its wildlife is not equipped to deal with these changes and is now on the verge of extinction. Sophisticated Recovery Programs are the last option for many species and Zoos Victoria is involved in a range of these programs.

Zoos Victoria is committed to the following Australian conservation programs:

Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby (Petrogale penicillata)
At the beginning of the 20th Century the Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby was so prolific that it was considered an agricultural pest. However, bounties and killing for the commercial fur trade decimated the wild population. With the introduction of foxes and land clearing, the fate of this endangered rock-wallaby hangs in the balance. Zoos Victoria, together with a number of other organisations, is committed to breeding these animals at Healesville Sanctuary, with the long-term goal of their release to the wild.
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Corroboree Frog (Pseudophryne corroboree)

The Southern Corroboree Frog is one of Australia’s best-known frog species because of its brightly coloured pattern of yellow and black stripes. This frog species only occurs at high altitudes in the Snowy Mountains Region of Kosciuszko National Park, where it breeds in bog and swamp environments. The Southern Corroboree Frog is listed as Critically Endangered and is seriously threatened with extinction in the wild as a result of disease caused by infection with a pathogen known as the Amphibian Chytrid Fungus. The dire predicament faced by this species in the wild means that the establishment of a captive breeding program is the only action that will prevent the complete extinction of this spectacular frog species.
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Eastern Barred Bandicoot (Perameles gunnii)

Like many of Australia’s grassland species, the Eastern Barred Bandicoot, a small marsupial, is under threat of extinction. The loss of its grassland habitat to agriculture and farming, coupled with predation by introduced foxes and cats, has caused populations to plummet in the wild. Through a coordinated Recovery Program, habitat management, predator control and support for wild populations through captive breeding for release are core elements to its recovery to the wild.
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Helmeted Honeyeater (Lichenostomus melanops cassidix)

Critically Endangered, the Helmeted Honeyeater survives in only two small wild populations east of Melbourne. Zoos Victoria staff, along with other dedicated Recovery Team members, have been working to maintain a captive breeding and release program for these birds since 1989. With initial releases establishing a wild colony, efforts are now focused on securing and increasing this population of wild birds through further action and research.
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Mountain Pygmy-possum (Burramys parvus)

The Mountain Pygmy-possum is restricted to alpine and sub-alpine regions of Victoria and New South Wales and is Australia’s only hibernating mammal. Three genetically distinct and geographically isolated populations have been found at Mt Buller, Mt Hotham and Mt Kosciusko. In 2001, it was estimated that 1570 Mountain Pygmy-possums lived in the wild, with 10% of the population located at Mt Buller.  The population is continuing to decline and on Mt Buller there may now be less than 30 animals. The remaining populations are threatened by habitat loss (destruction, erosion and weed invasion), feral predation (dogs, foxes and cats) and increased competition by other small mammals.
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Orange-bellied Parrot (Neophema chrysogaster)

Like many birds in Tasmania, the Orange-bellied Parrot migrates to mainland Australia each year. However, the coastal salt marshes and dunes on the southern coast of Australia where they spend the winter have been cleared by Europeans over the past 200 years, causing the wild population of this bird to plummet. Captive breeding and release, coupled with habitat management and restoration, are the main focus of this recovery effort.
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Spotted Tree Frog (Litoria spenceri)

Many amphibian populations in Australia and around the world have declined in recent years. The Spotted Tree Frog, a mountain stream species from north-eastern Victoria and southern New South Wales, is one such species. The spread of introduced trout coupled with habitat disturbances has reduced the distribution of this species to a few reaches of rocky mountain stream in just 13 river systems. This species is also vulnerable to disease caused by infection with a pathogen known as the Amphibian Chytrid Fungus. Captive breeding for research into the impacts of this disease and population monitoring and evaluation are the main focus of this recovery effort.
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Sunshine Diuris Orchid (Diuris fragrantissima)

This recovery program draws on the expertise of Zoos Victoria’s horticultural staff in the propagation of the Critically Endangered Sunshine Diuris Orchid. The program is tackling the ever-increasing loss of Victoria's grassland habitat by restoring some of the remaining grassland remnants in an effort to retain the biodiversity these ecosystems support.
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Tasmanian Devil (Sarcophilus harrisii)

The Tasmanian Devil is the largest carnivorous marsupial in the world and is restricted to Tasmania. The outbreak of a new and poorly understood disease called Devil Facial Tumour Disease has caused a catastrophic decline in Devil populations. In an effort to protect the Devil from extinction, the Tasmanian Government has established a disease-free population on mainland Australia in the event that Devils become extinct in Tasmania. Healesville Sanctuary, together with a number of other zoological institutions, is participating in establishing this mainland ark population of Devils, with the long-term goal of reintroducing them to Tasmania. 
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