Koala ‘fire babies’ find new home at Cleland Wildlife Park
Dubbed the fire babies after being rescued from the fire ground on Kangaroo Island, koala joeys, Phoenix and Breezy, are thriving at Cleland Wildlife Park where they have found a new home. SEE THE CUTE PICTURES.
Adelaide Hills
Don't miss out on the headlines from Adelaide Hills. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Fire fraudster pleads guilty via phone on his way to the hospital
- Gorge Wildlife Park welcomes new babies including four dingo pups
Two female koala joeys, unknowingly rescued along with their mothers from the fire ground on Kangaroo Island, have found a new home at Cleland Wildlife Park.
Phoenix and Breezy – both six months old – made their first appearance out of their mother’s pouches last month.
It’s earned them the nickname ‘fire babies’, with their birth inspiring hope for the future of their species.
Koala keeper Ashleigh Hunter said the joeys were a miracle during a time of adversity.
“The joeys were conceived on Kangaroo Island and born around the time of the bushfire, but weren’t discovered until a routine health check in February,” she said.
“But we didn’t get a proper look at these babies until July when they started to venture out of their mothers’ pouches briefly.
“Both are beautiful girls and are growing like weeds, and don’t really fit in the pouch anymore.
“Initially they were spending a lot of time keeping warm in the pouch, but now they are getting a bit more active and are venturing out and about to taste-test leaves.”
Ms Hunter said the fires burnt more than 210,000 hectares on Kangaroo Island, of which
almost 90,000 hectares was national and conservation parks.
She said the loss of significant amounts of habitat resulted in large numbers of koalas perishing and those that remained were struggling to find food.
“A small number of koalas who wouldn’t have survived without intervention were rescued and moved into a specially built enclosure at Cleland Wildlife Park,” she said.
“Before the bushfires, about 50,000 koalas were estimated to live on KI, having grown from a population of 18 introduced to the island in the 1920s.
“After the fires it was estimated that between 5000 to 10,000 koalas might remain.”