Veterinary scene down under: Koala research aids understanding of understudied region

During Australia’s extensive Black Summer bushfires of 2019-2020, veterinarian Adrienne Lavinia, BVSc, BVetBiol, MSC (Conservation Medicine), the veterinary director at Ballarat Wildlife Hospital and an adjunct senior research specialist at Federation University based in Mount Helen, Victoria, was deployed from her then-work as a zoo veterinarian to triage koalas and other wildlife affected by the fires in the region. Since then, she has been involved in a koala research project that is providing critical insights into the post-release survival, behavior, and habitat use of koalas around the Ballarat area.

“That experience was a turning point for me, and I wanted to do more for the region’s free-ranging koalas. My colleagues and I were motivated to contribute to local koala conservation beyond clinical and rehabilitation work and began collaborating with researchers at Federation University. Our initial plan for a population census and broad health assessment exceeded available funding, so we refocused on a targeted post-release monitoring project,” Lavinia said to dvm360.

“In 2022, the Ballarat Wildlife Hospital, was established with an integrated clinical and research mandate, and we began tracking our first post-release koalas that November. Koalas admitted to the hospital and subsequently treated and cleared for release are fitted with tracking collars during their final pre-release examination,” Lavinia said.

Utilizing movement data from koalas equipped with store-on-board GPS and VHF collars, the project aims to determine whether koalas survive and thrive post-release, whether veterinary interventions support successful reintegration, and which landscape features influence survival.

Lavinia and other investigators manually track the koalas in the field and remotely download the GPS data when the collars are within radio frequency range. “These field visits allow for the collection of fecal samples to support ongoing antimicrobial resistance research. For bushfire-affected koalas, we also assess whether they remain in regenerating habitat or relocate to unburnt areas. Road-crossing behavior is also monitored to identify high-risk locations and inform mitigation strategies,” Lavinia said.

“While numerous koala tracking studies in Victoria have examined translocated populations or individuals affected by blue gum plantation harvesting, few have evaluated outcomes for koalas released from wildlife hospitals. Koala populations around Ballarat are often overlooked in state-wide conservation planning, partly because of perceptions that they represent a noncritical population,” she added.

Lavinia explained that without targeted research studies, surveillance, and long-term understanding, the Ballarat koala population remains at risk. “Broader conservation frameworks such as the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act and IUCN listings provide essential guidance but may overlook the vulnerability of small, isolated populations to local extinction and range contraction without recognition and targeted management. This research addresses that gap by assessing the health, post-release movement, habitat use, and survival of both bushfire- and non–bushfire-affected koalas treated at the Ballarat Wildlife Hospital,” explained Lavinia.

“By focusing on rehabilitated individuals in this under-studied region, the research provides insights into the outcomes of the rescue–treatment–release process and identifies landscape features critical to long-term survival; informing more effective rehabilitation, land management, and conservation strategies.”

Nature and animals inspire novelist veterinarian

Having long been fascinated by the human animal bond and the connections between people and animals, veterinarian and author Karen Viggers, BVSc (Hons I), PhD, is currently working on her sixth contemporary fiction novel. Each of her books focusses on social or conservation issues, such as the ethics of wildlife rescue and scientific research, end of life choices, native forest logging, kangaroo culling, and, more recently, children’s sport.

“My books are human stories threaded with wildlife and domestic animals. In this way my veterinary work and experiences feed my creative work. I love the whole creative process because it uses a different part of my brain compared to my veterinary work. That doesn’t mean writing a book is easy. It’s definitely not. Each book takes from 3 to 4 years, with several drafts, and lots of editing. There are many periods of doubt and loss of confidence,” explained Viggers exclusively to dvm360.

“But what I’ve learned over the years is to trust my process, even though it’s messy and iterative. The first draft is often wild and joyful. I plunge in and follow tangents and see where the ideas want to go. Then comes the deep work of redrafting and crafting it into something worthwhile, which can take a long time. After that, I have to find the social and gregarious parts of myself to do the publicity. It’s like coming out of a cave. This is why I value my veterinary work. It keeps me in touch with people and the real world.”

The 5 novels that Viggers has had published are The Stranding (2008), The Lightkeeper’s Wife (2011), The Grass Castle (2014), The Orchardist’s Daughter (2019) and Sidelines (2024). She is currently writing the second draft of sixth novel which is focused around human impacts on the oceans.

“I’ve had a few personal challenges in the past 2 years which have slowed my creative process a little. I’ve also travelled to some remarkable places including, Zambia, Uganda, Papua New Guinea, Bhutan, Peru and Ecuador. This hasn’t helped my time frames with writing either. But I want to go on adventures while I still can. Hiking and wild places are important to me, and feed by work,” Viggers shared.

“As part of my creative journey, I love to support other writers, so I interview other authors at writers’ festivals and on the Secrets from the Green Room podcast that I co-host with another author. At the 2025 Ubud Writers & Readers Festival in Bali, I interviewed several. It was such a thrill to attend an international festival and meet other writers,” she said.

After graduating as a veterinarian in 1987, Viggers initially worked in mixed-animal practice before doing weekend and locum work at Healesville Sanctuary in Victoria, to progress her interest in wildlife conservation – which she also draws on in her writing. “I met my husband-to-be over a Leadbeater’s possum in the veterinary center at Healesville Sanctuary. We then moved to Canberra, and I undertook a PhD [program] in wildlife health and parasite ecology. This helped me to develop research skills and also opened myriad opportunities to assist wildlife biologists in the field,” Viggers said.

“As a result, I have been privileged to have worked with a wide range of native species including squirrel gliders, potoroos, quolls, bandicoots, pygmy possums, possums, kangaroos, Australian fur seals, diamond pythons and many others. I have also worked in Antarctica on crabeater seals, Weddell seals, Adelie penguins and leopard seals. During my career as a wildlife veterinarian, I have also continued to work part-time in small animal practice, which I enjoy to this day.”

Having loved writing since she was a child, it wasn’t until later in her life that Viggers had the time and opportunity to pursue her literary interests.

“It wasn’t until after I’d completed my PhD and a post-doc and had two children that I decided to try writing a novel. By then I was in my late thirties and realised that if I didn’t start soon, I would be 80 and still saying I wanted to write! So, in between working part-time as a vet and raising two small children, I wrote my first novel, The Stranding,” Viggers explained.

“It was an interesting process. My PhD thesis had been good training for writing. I learned to complete a large project, how to edit and be critical of my own writing, and how to accept input from editors. Getting published wasn’t easy. I received a few rejections and started another novel which became my second published book, The Lightkeeper’s Wife. But it wasn’t until I found an agent that my first novel was published in 2008,” she added.

Viggers is currently completing the final draft of her next book which will be published in the next year or so, she said.