Claude, whose moniker was inspired by his oversized claws, is still carrying out late-night rampages at the Eastern Forest Nursery near Lismore in the Northern Rivers.
Eastern Forest grows eucalyptus seedlings for WWF-Australia’s koala habitat restoration projects, but the leaf thieves are a little too eager to make use of the good work. Claude's antics were first uncovered when he ate so many plants he was in a"food coma" and couldn't flee. He seems to have a broad palate too, with species including red gum, flooded gum, tallow wood, brush box, swamp box, Sydney blue gum, silver-leaved iron bark and grey gum.He waited until no workers were around to sneak in and gorge on seedlings for more than 45 minutes, security footage shows.Last year, the New South Wales declared koalas an endangered species, with the beloved Aussie icon at risk of becoming extinct.