Maru Koala & Animal Park

This World Environment Day, it feels like the planet is a little harder to ignore than usual. 🌏👀

Seasons are shifting, habitats are changing, and nature is constantly adjusting in real time. The question is — are we keeping up?

So let’s talk about trees. 🌳

They don’t ask for attention (in fact it's best to just leave them be), but they quietly do some of the most important work on Earth.

Forests help regulate the climate in ways we’re only just fully appreciating — drawing carbon out of the atmosphere, helping stabilise temperatures, shaping rainfall, and softening the extremes we’re starting to see more often. They’ve been doing this for centuries without fanfare… just consistently holding things together.

Forests are simply where life happens. 🐨🦘🦜
Koalas tucked into eucalyptus canopies, kangaroos moving through forest edges, gliders slipping between branches at dusk, and birds, insects and reptiles all relying on the structure trees create.

When forests are under pressure from fire, drought, land clearing and climate change, the impact doesn’t stop at the trees — it moves through everything that depends on them.

At Maru, we see that connection up close. The animals respond to seasonal changes, shifts in food availability, and subtle environmental stress. Nothing in nature exists in isolation — everything is connected, even in small ways we sometimes miss.

That’s why protecting and restoring habitat isn’t just important — it’s fundamental.

Because trees aren’t just scenery. They’re living, breathing systems that have been standing quietly for centuries, holding soil, cooling air, cleaning carbon, and making life possible in the background. They've been enabling life as we know it for millenia.

Let's do our bit and protect them in return 🌏🌿

Where is your favourite forest?

📸 The two types of frog selfies: 📸
🐸 - Demure, carefully curated photo
😝 - Forgot the front camera was on

Let's talk fluff. More specifically, koala fluff. ❄️🐨

Koalas in southern Australia, including Victoria, are adapted to cooler, temperate forests. Compared to their northern cousins, they’ve got thicker fur and a chunkier build — basically nature’s version of a built-in puffer jacket.

Under that iconic fluff is a dense woolly undercoat that traps heat, while longer outer hairs help block wind and rain (and even the occasional hail or snow storm!). 100% Australian wool, zero shrinkage!

Winter also changes the eucalyptus situation. The trees grow slower, and the leaves can have less moisture than in warmer months. Since eucalyptus is already a super low-energy diet, koalas go full “low power mode” to conserve energy.

That’s why in winter you’ll see them:
• sleeping even more than usual 😴
• barely moving (same tbh)
• curling into tiny “koala burritos” high in the trees
• and sunbaking for that vitamin D hit ☀️

This is also where habitat really matters. Koalas rely on healthy, connected eucalyptus forests to find food and shelter all year round — and with climate change and habitat loss increasing pressure, every bit of restored land counts.

The good news? You don’t need to be a wildlife expert to help. Planting native trees in your own space actually makes a difference for native wildlife. And if you want to go one step further, you can sponsor a tree at Maru — helping grow habitat for koalas and all the other native icons that rely on a healthy eco-system, from kangaroos and gliders to wombats and birds 🩶

Koalas - built for Australia’s temperate forests from fluffy head to tail.

If you had to share a tree with a koala for a day… would you survive it, or would they absolutely out-sleep you? 😴🌿

Chuppa Chup the Tawny Frogmouth firmly believes that if a meal is worth eating, it's worth wearing too! 🪶 Judging by the egg yolk all over his face, dinner was absolutely delicious!! 🍳

This National Reconciliation Week, we’re reflecting on what it means to be “All In”.

Maru Koala and Animal Park acknowledges the Bunurong/Boon Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we operate. We pay our respects to Elders past and present, and recognise their continuing connection to Country, waters, wildlife and culture.

As a park dedicated to the care, rehabilitation and long-term conservation of Australia’s native wildlife, we recognise that caring for Country and caring for culture are deeply connected.

We also recognise that reconciliation is ongoing work — built through listening, learning, relationships and action over time.

While we are still early in our journey, we are committed to continuing to learn, deepen our understanding, and build respectful relationships into the future.

Tiny, fierce and new to Maru!🔥
We’ve welcomed some adorable new arrivals, but don’t let their size fool you! These little creatures are known for their ferocious hunting abilities.

Can you guess what they are? 🐾

🌟 Hint: They’re related to Tasmanian Devils! 👀

Fickle the Swamp Wallaby joey is just 'hanging out' in Mum, Chilli's, pouch - literally!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5 stars for comfort, 1 star for leg room.

We’ve welcomed some new faces to the park 🐨💚

These 2 boys are still juveniles at around 1 year of age, and are settling in well.
Each one has their own personality (and attitude 😅)

Here's our keeper tips to tell the difference:
Dusty – Fluffier ears. Flatter peri-orbital (upper eyelid) skin
Cosmo – More pink in nose. Rounder peri-orbital skin. Heart shaped philtrum (the dip/groove of the upper lip)

Come meet them and see if you can spot the difference 👀