The bushfire in the Bunyip State Park during the Victorian bushfires has spared the critically endangered Helmeted Honeyeater which survives in just two small wild populations east of Melbourne.

The Bunyip Ridge fire continues to burn in the Bunyip State Park and State Forest areas between Gembrook, Powelltown, Neerim Junction and Tonimbuk and is estimated to be approximately 24,500 hectares in size, with a perimeter of approximately 161 kms.

The bushfire burnt to within 300 meters of the Helmeted Honeyeater release site. The wind direction and work done by fire fighters took the fire both north and east of the site.

As the wildfire approached the colony, Bruce Quin, Field Ornithologist with the Department of Sustainability and Environment retrieved two Helmeted Honeyeater eggs from a nest at Tonimbuk to protect them from being lost in the event that the fire did move through the site. These eggs were placed in an incubator at Healesville Sanctuary.

The following day, Bruce retrieved a 14 day old chick that had left the nest for the first time that morning. During two days of the critical danger period, this chick was cared for at the Sanctuary and, once the fire threat had passed, was successfully reunited with its parents.

The vulnerability of Helmeted Honeyeaters to catastrophic events and the importance of the captive population have never been more evident than during this summer when ALL three Victorian populations (Yellingbo, Tonimbuk and the captive group at Healesville Sanctuary) were under immediate threat from wildfire. Fortunately, the captive population are able to be moved in this type of event and the tireless efforts of Sanctuary staff ensured that the evacuation to Melbourne Zoo was successfully completed. The small numbers of Helmeted Honeyeaters and limited distribution make it vulnerable to a catastrophic event. Wildfire and dieback of eucalypts remain the most potentially destructive threat and could wipe out the entire wild population.

Healesville Sanctuary Director, John Gibbons said staff members were closely monitoring the survival of the colony of Helmeted Honeyeaters which were bred at Healesville Sanctuary and re-released into the wild at the end of each breeding season.

Zoos Victoria has been involved in the captive breeding of Helmeted Honeyeaters since the Recovery Program began almost 20 years ago, and is continuing this commitment. In addition, Zoos Victoria staff members are involved in the translocation and reintroduction of captive-bred birds to the wild and monitoring their survival after release.

"Healesville Sanctuary is committed to helping visitors discover and appreciate the incredible beauty and fragility of our natural world but also understand the challenges for future generations," Mr Gibbons said.

View a video about how we care for our Helmeted Honeyeaters below.