From the introduction: It’s a grey, cloudy afternoon, but the rain has held off so far over the Echidna Ridge Wildlife Sanctuary, meaning that the tourists and school groups roaming the winding paths that divide the Sanctuary into its various regions are chilly but dry. Some of the animals are indifferent to the weather: the swans and ibises are content on their lake, and the platypus exhibit is always comfortable for its inhabitants. The wombats, nocturnal, are if anything more awake in the dull light, shifting in their burrows behind the glass. High in the gum trees, koalas munch on leaves and look placidly down on the people who stare up at them, cameras flashing.