After accepting the job as Oakvale Wildlife Park's new curator, the United Kingdom citizen landed in Australia at the beginning of March, which turned out to be just in the nick of time.

A few short weeks later the coronavirus pandemic grounded international flights and many borders were closed to travelers. Then the Salt Ash wildlife park closed to visitors for 67 days due the uncertain and constantly changing COVID-19 conditions.

"It has been a longer process than we probably would liked for me to get the full lay of the land because of the COVID chaos," Ms Lambert said. "But I've settled in now."

Ms Lambert has worked with animals for more than 30 years. Getting her start in the industry when she was 17, Ms Lambert worked with marine mammals, one her specialties, in Italy.

She traveled across the world to learn about and work with a wide variety of animals including gorillas, giraffes and hippos, then took up a teaching role for five years.

Ms Lambert's last post was at a zoo outside of London before making the move to Salt Ash where she has been introduced to a whole new animal kingdom, Australian mammals and reptile led by the iconic koala.

"I love the location. Love the area. It's everything I could possibly want. I was bought up by the sea, my dad always took me fishing, and I love animals. This has it all," Ms Lambert said. "It's also a first for me, working with koalas. They're very cute."

During the Oakvale closure, extensive refurbishments were carried out to the park including earthworks, flood mitigation, enclosure rejuvenation, painting and cleaning. Additional experiences have been established, such as interaction with the nocturnal animals like the sugar glider.

Ms Lambert said staff worked hard behind the scenes to provide 'enrichment' for the park's animals who are used to engagement with visitors, but were without the stimulation during the shutdown.

Park owner Leanne Sansom said there had been a "significant influx" in visitors since the park's reopening on June 1, particularly in the school holidays.

"We're fortunate not to have any limitation on numbers through the doors given the site size. We've been doing this for 40 years. It's just another part of the road. Whether it's floods, fires or COVID, it's just another challenge to problem solve around, which I think we're doing well," she said.

"We have an amazing team, as committed today as they were six months ago, if not more, in caring for the animals and the public and each other. We're very grateful to have Angela here to assist."

Ms Lambert said there were many benefits to visiting the park.

"Animals are therapeutic. Even if you're not engaging physically with them, just watching them and physically being out and walking around is so good for your health."