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This guide will help you to identify suitable foods for supplementary feeding of uninjured wild animals where natural catastrophic disaster has temporarily eliminated their food supply.

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About the suitable foods guideHelpful and harmful foods per speciesAdditional information

About the suitable foods guide

• If a wildlife species is not mentioned in the information below, it is because it is considered unnecessary to offer food to these species, even during times of natural disaster. Such species include echidnas, snakes, fresh-water and marine turtles and amphibians. Food for fish or invertebrates is not addressed in this data
• This information has been developed with input from ecologists, wildlife veterinarians, wildlife nutritionists and rehabilitators and will be updated as new information becomes available

Last updated 18 February 2020.

Helpful and harmful foods per species

Koalas and Greater Gliders

Use in small amounts

• Eucalyptus foliage placed in a browse pot secured to a tree

Do not use - HARMFUL

• Foods other than eucalyptus leaves are not accepted by these animals

Tips

• If these animals are found in an area without eucalyptus trees, notify a wildlife rescue group
• Replenish foliage regularly from secure sources
• Do not place foliage close to ground – predation risk

Kangaroos, wallabies, pademelons and wombats

Use in small amounts

• Macropod (kangaroo) pellets (rural supply stores) if not available use high fibre, low energy horse pellets (not high performance)
• Leafy green vegetables (including silverbeet, baby spinach, endive, cos lettuce)
• Grass or oaten hay in cleared farmland only, never in bushland due to weed risk

Do not use - HARMFUL

• Avoid macropod muesli, pony, high performance or stud mixes with rice, seeds, sugar or pollard (too rich, health risk)
• Avoid hays in bushland areas (weed risk)
• Brassicas such as cabbage, broccoli, kale, cauliflower (health risk)

Tips

• Grass or oaten hay is the best feed for the nutrition of these animals but cannot be used in bushland areas due to the unacceptable risk of ecosystem destroying weeds
• Scatter food early morning and evening in small amounts – only replace as needed
• Higher starch vegetables may be harmful for some macropods (including sweet potato, corn, peas, parsnip, carrot, beetroot)

Eastern pygmy possums or gliders (incl. sugar, squirrel, feathertail and yellow-bellied gliders)

Use in small amounts

• Native plants and flowers
• Small amounts of fruit (including berries, melons, stone fruits, paw paw and the higher sugar orange, apple, pear, figs, banana, grapes and kiwi) and vegetables with seeds removed (including squash, capsicum, eggplant, pumpkin, cucumber, zucchini, green beans, turnips)
• Insect meal (pet food stores)

Do not use - HARMFUL

• High sugar fruit (including orange, apple, pear, figs, banana, grapes and kiwi) and starchy vegetables (including sweet potato, corn, peas, parsnip, carrot, beetroot)
• Wildlife "bait" balls (wildlife bait balls are typically mixes of peanut butter, oats and honey used to attract animals and should never be used to feed native wildlife)

Tips

• Place in fork of tree after sunset
• Do not encourage them to the ground to feed as they are vulnerable to predation

Brushtail and Ringtail Possums

Use in small amounts

• Native plants and flowers
• Small amounts of vegetables with seeds removed (including squash, capsicum, eggplant, pumpkin, cucumber, zucchini, green beans, turnips)

Do not use - HARMFUL

• High sugar fruit (including orange, apple, pear, figs, banana, grapes and kiwi) and starchy vegetables (including sweet potato, corn, peas, parsnip, carrot, beetroot)
• Wildlife "bait" balls (wildlife bait balls are typically mixes of peanut butter, oats and honey used to attract animals and should never be used to feed native wildlife)

Tips

• Mainly folivores (leaf eating)
• Place in fork of tree after sunset
• Do not encourage them to the ground to feed as they are vulnerable to predation

Carnivorous and insectivorous marsupials: antechinus, bandicoots, native rats and other rodents

Use in small amounts

• Insect meal, dog kibble (pet food store)
• Finely chopped vegetables (including squash, capsicum, eggplant, pumpkin, cucumber, zucchini, green)
• Mealworms (small amount)

Do not use - HARMFUL

• Avoid raw or cooked cooked meat. It spoils quickly and may make animals sick
• Avoid bones
• Wildlife "bait" balls (wildlife bait balls are typically mixes of peanut butter, oats and honey used to attract animals and should never be used to feed native wildlife)

Tips

• Scatter beneath the leaf litter or place under logs where nothing larger than a bandicoot can reach

Flying foxes

Use in small amounts

• Good quality wild bird blocks with large and small seeds
• Fruit with seeds removed (including berries, melons, stone fruits, paw paw)

Do not use - HARMFUL

• Avoid meat, citrus or very sugary foods

Tips

• Do not approach flying foxes without vaccination for rabies and protective gear
• Removed netting from fruit trees and flowering native plants in your garden to allow flying foxes to access natural food sources
• Do not leave food on the ground
• Dispose of decomposing fruit before replacing

For more information, please refer to the DPIE guide to helping Flying foxes in emergencies.

Parrots, cockatoos, galahs, finches and other seed/grain eating birds

Use in small amounts

• Chopped fruit such as apple, pear, melon, grapes (seeds removed) hung in trees using wire garland (only if advised by local bat carer organisation)

Do not use - HARMFUL

• Avoid too many sunflower seeds or nuts. They are high in fat and can make birds sick

Tips

• Do not scatter seed on the ground to attract predators
• Hang feeders and fruit trees
• Dispose of decomposing fruit, soiled seed before replacing

Lorikeets

Use in small amounts

• Bird nectar mix (pet food stores)

Do not use - HARMFUL

• Sugar water or honey water are health risks

Tips

• Do not feed on the ground. It attracts predators

Honeyeaters

Use in small amounts

• Bird nectar mix and insect meal (pet food stores) placed in fork of tree

Do not use - HARMFUL

• Sugar water or honey water are health risks

Tips

• Do not feed on the ground as it attracts predators

Reptiles (lizards)

Use in small amounts

• Insect meal for ground-dwelling and arboreal animals
• Finely chopped vegetables in forks of trees for arboreal species (including squash, capsicum, eggplant, pumpkin, cucumber, zucchini, green beans, turnips)

Do not use - HARMFUL

• Meat spoils quickly and may make animals sick

Tips

• Create habitat using logs, rocks and leaves
• Do not place vegetables on the ground

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Additional information

How you can helpHow you can help

Read more about how you can help wildlife in need.

More Things to avoidThings to avoid

Read about what to avoid when caring for wildlife.

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