Dr Mike Smith joined Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) as a Regional Ecologist just as the organisation was kicking off a major new conservation program to re-establish 10 regionally extinct mammal species in the south-west of Western Australia – an exciting time to come on board. The area they were being released into is an exclosure sit set up by the AWC at Mt Gibson. Here he shares a few of the trials and tribulations of working with threatened species – and the exhilaration of seeing some of Australia's most imperilled animals bounce back.