How has NSW's most wanted man survived on the run for six years?
Malcolm Naden is suspected of breaking into farmers' houses and stealing supplies. He was even living on the roof of an accommodation block at Dubbo Zoo, where newspapers reported he had been stealing rotting fruit and meat left out for the animals.
But he is also thought to have been living off the land in the heavily forested area between Barrington Tops and Nowendoc in northern NSW, where he is suspected of shooting a policeman on Wednesday.
Jeremy Bruhl of New England University's School of Environmental and Rural Sciences said that, if he was stranded in the area, he would seek out fruit trees.
He said mulberry, peach and other trees are found near highways and railway lines and have either outlasted the settlers who first planted them or have been spread by birds and travellers.
But the trees are seasonal, he cautioned. A more reliable food source would be a variety of weeds, including fennel, chicory, dandelions and blackberries.
“They'd be essential to building up nutrients,” Professor Bruhl said. “But they wouldn't form the bulk of a diet.”
Naden's reputation for bushcraft has become shrouded in myth. Before he disappeared from his grandparents' home in Dubbo in 2005, Naden reportedly lived behind a locked bedroom door where he read the Bible, encyclopaedias and survival manuals.
Naden previously worked as a shearer, and skinner and boner in an abattoir.
Professor Karl Vernes, a senior lecturer at the University of New England School of Environmental and Rural Sciences, said the area where Naden is suspected to be hiding has a high diversity of mammal species.
"If you knew what you were doing, there would be plenty to eat."
There are several species of marsupials in the area, Professor Vernes said. The most common are the swamp and redneck wallabies.
Professor Vernes said that, if Naden's notoriety for bushcraft was well-founded, he might use traps to catch other animals such as wombats.
Naden's escape from police on Wednesday is the seventh time he has evaded a search operation since he first went on the run.
Previously discovered campsites give a clue to how Naden has been able to avoid detection.
The Newcastle Herald reported in 2010 that Naden usually sets up crude but sturdy camps on the top of hills and well away from streams, which gives him the greatest possible lookout and keeps him away from trails favoured by bushwalkers.
The paper said he used dead trees to build windbreaks that sheltered him from often freezing conditions.
Should Naden become injured, he could use many materials in the bush for first aid, said Bob Cooper, a survival expert.
“There's a tremendous amount of bush medicine out there for anyone who knows," he said.
“Any gum tree resin contains tannin and it turns into tannic acid when dissolved in water; it's a fantastic antiseptic.
“Certain vines can be used and bound around arms for fractures. Snake vine will shrink around your arm like plaster.”
But Naden isn't necessarily solely reliant on the natural world. Northern NSW residents have speculated he receives aid and shelter from sympathisers and supporters.
Property stolen from farms, such as miners' hats, torches and boots, help him move through the night. One person told The Sun-Herald last year that Naden was thought to have stolen 14 pairs of binoculars during his time on the run.
Naden is wanted by police for allegedly strangling his cousin Kristy Scholes.
Police also want to question Naden about the disappearance of another of his cousins, Lateesha Nolan.
Ms Nolan's wallet was found recently on the banks of a river in Dubbo, police said yesterday.
