Dr Kiara Simonis

Since getting her cockatiel as a child, Kiara has dreamed of being an exotics vet. She focused her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine placements on exotic animals to gain as much experience as possible. During this time, she undertook placements which included a specialist exotic animal hospital in Hong Kong, a raptor rehabilitation center, Healesville Sanctuary and spent time learning reptile medicine and surgery from our own Dr Shane Simpson.

As the recipient of the Stephen Ross Memorial Scholarship in 2019, Dr Kiara presented her research project on satellite tracking of rehabilitated Australian raptors at the Unusual Pet and Avian Veterinarians Conference.

Kiara is now undertaking a residency in avian medicine and surgery which is part of a three-year training program to become a specialist in this field. During her training she has spent time at the Dubai Falcon Hospital which had a particular focus on endoscopy and endoscopic surgery, and has achieved membership in avian medicine and surgery, a pre-requisite for sitting her fellowship examinations.

Hobbies and Interests

Dr Kiara is a huge lover of all animals but has an extra soft spot for birds and reptiles. Outside of work and study, Kiara enjoys tending to her oversized indoor plant collection, spending time with her pets and anything that involves the outdoors and animals.

Owned Pets

At home, Kiara is the very proud mother of a bullmastiff called Murphy, grumpy cockatiel Tinkerbell (who she has had since she was 10 years old), a woma python named Bertie and four green tree frogs (Nori, Lemi, Sir Charles and Lotus).