From hosing down the alligators, bottle-feeding baby goats, playing with dingo pups and rotating animals around the enclosures, there's still plenty happening behind closed doors at Oakvale Wildlife Park.
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The doors may be closed to the public but the show still goes on at Oakvale Wildlife Park.
Keepers have been busy caring for the park's many residents, including new wallaby, kangaroo and koala joeys, filling the void left in the animals' lives without interaction from visitors and making improvements to the Salt Ash park's fields and facilities.
"At the end of the day the animals still have to be fed, watered and for those that need medication, to get their medication so we're still here doing that," Oakvale curator Angela Lambert said.
"Whilst it's not ideal being closed, we're making the best of it. We're using this time to get to the jobs we might not have had the time to get to previously and making improvements that we wouldn't have been able to if there were visitors, like digging out the camel field."
Oakvale has been closed since the Hunter was locked down on August 5. It is the second time the doors to the 40-year-old family owned and operated business has had to close due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ms Lambert, who has experienced an extremely COVID-turbulent 18 months since moving from the United Kingdom to Port Stephens for the Oakvale curator job, said there has been positives and negatives to the park's lockdown closure.
Animals miss the interaction with guests, which is an enriching experience for them. But they can also gain enrichment from their typical routine being altered.
"When we're open to the public we have talks and feedings and scheduled times. All the schedules have gone out the window but it means we can focus our attention more on the animals and on other enrichment activities," Ms Lambert said.
Spending time with dingo pups Ed and Al is no hard task for keepers. However, a farewell is on the horizon.
The pups, born at the park eight and a half weeks ago, will move to their new home of Halls Gap Zoo in Victoria on Monday.
Their transfer will ultimately assist with conservation efforts by keeping the nation's dingo genetic pool healthy.
In a similar vein three koala joeys born at Oakvale in the past 10 months will also assist conservation efforts. The park's female koalas Koda, Karri and Tilli are proud new mothers.
Oakvale is now home to 12 koalas including a new male, Jiri, who moved in four months ago.
Oakvale is set to release a new meerkat, a male named Khumo, into its exhibition and also added an echidna, named Edna, to the park three months ago.
There are also a number of new wallaby and kangaroo joeys at the park, arriving in time for spring, and baby goats and sheep.
Oakvale owners Kent and Leanne Sansom are encouraging residents to support local where they can as "every time you support a small local business you are supporting a local family".
Anyone wishing to support Oakvale during the lockdown closure period can do so by heading to its website and buying vouchers or an annual membership.
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