The mallee emu-wren is a tiny spinifex specialist now only found in the Victorian mallee of Australia. Drought and wildfire in recent decades has led to an overall population decline and the species going extinct in South Australia in 2014. The Threatened Mallee Birds Steering Committee, a group of dedicated government, non-government organisations, and individuals committed to delivering priority conservation actions for threatened mallee bird species, instigated the first phase of a reintroduction program for the species in 2018. Due to the challenging nature of the species cryptic behaviour, difficult habitat, and small body size an adaptive management framework was employed that allowed for workflow change during the reintroduction process. Important knowledge was gained on capture efficiency, animal husbandry, marking methods, source site impacts and the importance of release timing, all helping determine whether translocation was a feasible conservation tool for this endangered species. Short and long-term climatic conditions during and after releases are likely to be important for successful reintroductions of mallee emu-wren. This climatic dependency will constrain and make future reintroductions difficult, particularly around securing sufficient funding. Funding tied to grants with fixed timelines and milestones will not allow for the flexibility needed in such a changing and variable habitat particularly in the face of increased climate change.