Rewilding Scotia with the Australian Wildlife Conservancy

Dates

28 Sept 2026

3 Oct 2026
Trip Type Conservation & Citizen Science, Nature & Wildlife
Twin Share Maximum of two adults
$ 6,490
Single $ 6,590

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AWC Ecologists and Field Staff

This immersive wildlife and conservation experience is hosted and run by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy. AWC Ecologists and Field staff will provide a rare glimpse of Australia as it once was.

Duration

5 Days

Group Size

12 People

Activity Level

Easy to Moderate

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About this tour

A five-day rewilding journey to Scotia Sanctuary, a 65,000-hectare reserve in far western New South Wales managed by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy. Within the sanctuary, an 8,000-hectare fenced, feral-predator-free area (one of the largest such areas on mainland Australia) provides a safe haven for four nationally threatened mammals that have been returned to the landscape. The tour starts and ends in Mildura, with a 4WD transfer to the sanctuary and three nights inside its boundary. Days are spent in the field with the conservation team, mornings and evenings in mallee country and salt-lake landscapes, with nocturnal drives and walks built into the schedule to find the species that come out after dark.

Scotia is one of the only places in Australia where you can see wild populations of all four of the mammals reintroduced inside the fence: greater bilby, numbat, bridled nailtail wallaby and burrowing bettong – most of which have been extinct in New South Wales for more than a century. This tour is operated in partnership with the Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC), whose field ecologists conduct nearly 7,000 live-trap nights and 4,000 transect surveys at Scotia each year. Travellers spend time in the field with the AWC team and see the science behind reintroduction up close.

Who is this tour for?

This tour is designed for travellers with a strong interest in Australian wildlife conservation, threatened-species recovery and the science that supports it. The schedule is busy and the days are long — early starts, daily walks on uneven mallee terrain, late nights for spotlighting and nocturnal walks — and travellers should be comfortable in a remote field setting with simple but comfortable accommodation. Birders, naturalists and conservation-curious travellers who want to spend time with the people doing the work will get the most from this trip.

Highlights

Stay three nights at Scotia Sanctuary, a 65,000-hectare reserve in far western New South Wales, whose 8,000-hectare feral-predator-free fenced area is one of the largest such areas on mainland Australia.
See wild populations of greater bilby, numbat, bridled nailtail wallaby and burrowing bettong – the only place in Australia where all four reintroduced species can be seen together.
Travel sections of the sanctuary's 50-kilometre predator-proof fence with AWC staff and learn how it was built.
Join a guided nocturnal spotlighting drive in Stage 1 and a guided nocturnal walk in the feral-free area to look for the night's most secretive residents.
Visit an active malleefowl mound and hear how fox control and habitat management are helping this shy species recover.
Try your hand at radio-tracking with the AWC team using telemetry equipment in the field.
Walk Scotia's Playa Lake, a striking inland salt lake home to rare halophyte vegetation, including Halosarcia lylei.

All accommodation: one night at Quality Hotel Mildura Grand and three nights at Scotia Sanctuary.
Return 4WD transfers between Mildura and Scotia Sanctuary.
All meals as listed in the day-by-day itinerary (four breakfasts, three lunches, three dinners, one morning tea).
All scheduled wildlife and conservation activities, including 4WD tours inside and outside the feral-free fenced area, nocturnal spotlighting drives, guided nocturnal walks, the malleefowl mound visit, the Playa Lake visit, sunset drinks at Sunset Ridge and at Playa Lake, and the radio-tracking telemetry session.
All AWC staff guiding, presentations, and on-sanctuary interpretation.
Australian Geographic Society conservation contribution to fund the AG Society’s conservation work.

Itinerary

Arrive in Mildura and check in to the Quality Hotel Mildura Grand from 2pm. The Murray River precinct is a short walk away. Free evening to settle in ahead of an early start tomorrow. Overnight: Mildura. Meals: None.