The National Zoo and Aquarium has reopened its gates to the public today (29 October) with a special new addition โ a koala joey.
National Zoo and Aquarian and Jamala Wildlife Lodgeโs senior wildlife keeper, Brendan Sheean, said six-year-old mum Matilda has been proud to show off her little one.
โWe have a beautiful, lovely girl and sheโs about eight months old. We havenโt actually named her yet because here at the National Zoo we have lots of animals to name, so sometimes zookeepers can struggle to find names for our animals and we are after the public to help us out,โ Mr Sheean said.
โIf you come and visit us during the week, you guys will get the opportunity to let us know what you would like our newest joey to be called and, at the end, weโre going to pick the name that suits its personality the best.โ
The koala joeyโs arrival is a welcomed relief for the National Zoo, as koalas arenโt easy to breed and there are predictions the native animals could become extinct within the next couple of decades.
โKoalas are facing extinction. The three major threats to their numbers in the wild is disease, habitat loss due to Australiaโs large population on the East Coast, but the biggest one is climate change from the high risk in extreme fires, droughts, severe weather and dehydration, so thereโs a lot of big problems facing their future,โ Mr Sheean said.
โWe wouldnโt release these koalas into the wild because of theses threats, so we want to make sure those are gone before we do. Thereโs no point releasing something if itโs just going to disappear.โ
The National Zoo has been closed for the past three months due to lockdown, and the zookeepers said the animals have missed all their visitors.
โBeing in lockdown for three months has been an interesting time for our animals. Of course, they really have missed people, especially our primates as they do like the human interaction,โ Mr Sheean said.
โWe did make sure the keepers spent a lot more time with our animals, just so that they didnโt get lonely, so right now Iโm sure theyโre all really excited to see the public. Especially the meerkats, they absolutely love people and seeing what people do.โ
Wildlife manager Shelley Russell agreed and said many of the species and individual animals look forward to seeing visitors every day.
โThe interaction between visitors and animals is an important part of their lives. They love the contact with their keepers, but the variety of different people and ages that visitors offer is very relevant,โ Ms Russell said.
โThe monkeys, big cats such as lions, tigers and cheetahs, bear, meerkats, deer and even giraffes are intrigued with watching their visitors. Favourites like tigers Mya and Melati and giraffe Skye are looking forward to seeing their visitors again!โ
The National Zoo said theyโre ecstatic to be open again because itโs important for the community to connect with nature, especially the local, little species that you find in Canberra and around Australia, in the hopes people will want to protect them in the wild.
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