Claude the Koala caught on camera helping himself to eucalypt seedlings

Claude the Koala, as he's become known to staff at the Eastern Forest Nursery near Lismore, is responsible for plundering eucalypt plantings night after night.

On four different occasions between September and October, overnight cameras picked up the activity of the cheeky koala as he headed in for his late night snack. Each feast took the koala up to 45 minutes.

On one other occasion, Claude attempted a much more daring theft by helping himself to some seedlings in broad daylight.

The cameras also managed to pick up a mother koala and her joey following Claude's example.

"I think Claude has introduced his partner and joey to the all-you-can-eat buffet, now that she's eating for two," nursery owner Humphrey Herington told Nine News.

The sensor cameras were set up by the World Wide Fund (WWF) to catch the culprits in the act. A fence installed around the seedlings, unfortunately, was no match for the marsupial family's stealth climbing.

Though amusing, Mr Herington said the koala family's behaviour reflected a problem affecting the species.

"We have a desperate need for more koala food trees," he said.

"South Gundurimba [nursery location] was heavily cleared in the past."

The WWF-supported nursery has been growing the seedlings to restore koala habitations in the area. But, Claude's insatiable hunger may mean none of the plants can make it to maturity in order to be planted.