Meet Matilda – the high-tech truck that’s a game changer for Aussie wildlife

BYRON Bay Wildlife Hospital has welcomed a state-of-the-art new vehicle ahead of a national tour in 2026, which will showcase how innovation in heavy transport can directly support wildlife conservation and boost resilience in the face of natural disasters.

Affectionately known as ‘Matilda’, the custom-built 6×4 prime mover is adorned with striking livery featuring a 3D panoramic landscape populated with Australian wildlife.

The vehicle has been provided by UD Trucks Australia as part of a long-term partnership that connects transport and logistics, emergency services and wildlife conservation.

With its parent company, Wildlife Recovery Australia, recently opening a bricks-and-mortar facility at Lennox Head, the mobile hospital — currently based in the car park at Byron Bay Wildlife Sanctuary in Knockrow — is now free to take critical care directly to wildlife affected by bushfires, floods, and disease outbreaks across the country.

“With our fixed-location hospital now established, the mobile hospital can be deployed for research, field operations, education tours and rapid disaster response,” Wildlife Recovery Australia founder and CEO Dr Stephen Van Mil said.

Replacing the original Quon delivered in 2020, the upgraded vehicle features improved fuel efficiency and cutting-edge active safety technologies, including the ability to detect vulnerable road users and other traffic hazards.

The 22-wheel semi-trailer is licensed as a veterinary hospital by the Veterinary Practitioners Board of NSW. It is fully equipped with X-ray, anaesthesia, endoscopy, and haematology units, as well as a sterile surgery, critical care cages, pop-out slide walls, solar panels, a satellite dish, deep-cell batteries and a generator.

Wildlife Recovery Australia now operates three dedicated facilities for the treatment and rehabilitation of sick, injured, and orphaned Australian wildlife, including the Byron Bay Raptor Recovery Centre at Ewingsdale.