australia

Be still our tender hearts! There is absolutely nothing more precious than when two different animal species become best friends! 

During the COVID-19 lockdown at the Australian Wildlife Park, a koala named, Elsa, and a wombat named, Hope, shared an enclosure together. 

It was during that time that they two struck up the most adorable friendship. They're now being called, "lockdown BFFs." The two marsupials were hand raised by the keepers at the Australia Reptile Park, wombats are actually the closest relative species to the koala, so their keepers figured it would be a friendship match in heaven... they were right. 

Now that the park has re-opened, the keepers are making sure that the two are able to see each other every day! 

Migaloo, is a completely all-white humpback whale and is said to be the very first completely white humpback whale. Scientists are still unsure if Migaloo is albino or leucistic, which means he is unable to "produce pigment but has colored eyes."

The name Migaloo itself means "whitefella" in a few indigenous languages. 

Migaloo was first spotted in 1991, around Hervey Bay and has been monitored by scientists ever since. Due to Migaloo being too well-known and so rare, special protections have been implemented to ensure nothing happens to Australia's favorite humpback. Whale watchers have to keep at least a five-hundred meter distance or face the penalty. A penalty of a fine up to $16,500.

Yikes. They aren't messing around and honestly, that's a great thing. 

A tweet predicted a Migaloo sighting that he would be by Sydney soon and even possibly reach Cape Byron around Wednesday. 

If you're in Australia, be on the lookout for the rare sighting! Though, Dr. Pirotta, Macquarie University Marine Scientist, says, "Migaloo is one of around 40,000 humpback whales so essentially it's like looking for a needle in a haystack. So when people see or may have seen this individual people get really excited and start to try and predict his movements."

"Migaloo is like the rock star for the ocean world because he's showing that we should care about the ocean. But also remembering that because he's so famous we need to be aware of our actions on the water," Dr. Pirotta added.

Seems like Australia reigns up top when it comes to rare sea life! 

Story via DailyMail

This little boy is a hero. 

When Owen, a six-year-old boy living in Massachusetts, heard about the devastating fires of Australia, earlier this year, he not only wanted to help the animals -- he actually did something about it. 

It all started with a drawing he did of a kangaroo, dingo, and koala in the rain. This drawing was Owen's wish for a storm to come and stop the fire, thus saving the animals. When his mom asked him if he wanted to help in some way, Owen didn't hesitate and came up with an idea of creating clay koalas in order to save the real ones! 

Owen and his mom began to make little koalas to give out for every donation they received. The response was tremendous and the family started a GoFundMe page. So far, Owen and his family have raised over $100,000 and donated it all to the wildlife rescue organization called Wildlife Rescue South Coast. 

Read more about Owen's Little Koala's.

Congratulations to the Australian Reptile Park in Somersby, New South Wales, and to the mother, Rosie!

A ray of hope is lit in the land down under as Ash, the first koala to be born months after the devastating bushfires that gripped the continent. Up to 85% of the koala population was wiped out between November 2019 and February 2020. 

Australian Reptile Park Zookeeper, Dan Rumsey told BuzzFeed News, "Ash represents the start of what we're hoping to be another successful breeding season. It was such an incredible moment when we saw Ash poke her head out of her mum's pouch for the first time!"

And while it is the first time the world (and zookeepers) have seen the baby, Ash is already 5 months old. 

"Ash is estimated to be 5 months old and is right on track to be emerging from the pouch for the first time. Her mother Rosie has shown exemplary parenting skills and we know that Ash is in good paws," Rumsey added.

The park is said to reopen on June 1st and just in time for visitors to see the ray of hope themselves! 

In 2018, The Boronia Veterinary Clinic in Australia announced on Facebook about a very rare and special guest at their clinic- a rescued brushtail possum with an incredible orange-yellow coat, often referred to as "Golden possums".  

 The real-life Pikachu was sadly found lying on the ground by a concerned rescuer when he was just five months old, after falling from her mom's back. After spending a night at Boronia Veterinary Clinic, she was placed with a wildlife carer.

Brushtail possums are usually a grayish color, but little Pikachu has a genetic mutation that means she lacks melanin. 

Turns out, those unusual colors may look beautiful to us but are actually posing a significant danger to the animal in the wild: "One of the issues with unusual colors, particularly if they are pale, is that this is a nocturnal animal and if they are pale, they are obvious to predators like an owl,"  Dr. Kath Handasyde from Melbourne University's School of Biosciences told Business Insider.

But this adorable possum is not the only one in Australia. There are more little pockets of them around Melbourne, but their location is kept secret by the volunteers in order to keep them safe.      

Story via: Business Insider

This Australian dad has really topped us all as far as creativity during self-isolation. 

While trying to stay productive, Dr. Farvardin Daliri has built a giant, laughing kookaburra in his own backyard.

The native bird, which measures a whopping 8.5 metres from beak to tail and stands at 4.5 metres tall was built for the Townsville Cultural Festival in Queensland, which he established 26 years ago. 

If you're wondering just how Dr Daliri constructed this incredible structure, he started working on it in February and used hundreds of steel round bars that were then melded and interlocked together, creating the shape of a kookaburra.

He also has a Master of Fine Arts, specializing in ceramics and sculpting, which helped him figure out the technical elements needed to make the sculpture.

He then took it out for a test drive and his daughter shared the video on twitter. 

We're melting! It's as if someone combined a kangaroo, koala, sloth, monkey, and bear, and thus -- the tree kangaroo was born! 

This animal can be founds in the rain forests of Australia, West Papua, and Papua New Guinea. Often called by local, "ghost of the forest," the elusive tree kangaroo. Tree kangaroos are marsupials so just like a kangaroo, they carry their offsprings in their pouch. The only difference is that they were built for climbing trees. 

They are peaceful animals who enjoy sleeping and eating a herbivore diet! Oh, and they're cute as heck. 

Check out what this adorable looks like below: 

These cute little marsupials are pretty rare and only live on one specific island off the Australian coast. 

But the real reason everyone's so obsessed with them? 

Well, they have an extremely infectious grin - and we can't get enough.

In the midst of the coronavirus outbreak and in perfect timing in case you needed reminding of the good in the world, comes this good news from Australia. 

Following the devastating bushfires of the 2019-2020 "Black Summer", during which more than 12.6 million hectares of land were scorched, 33 lives were lost and more than 1 billion were animals killed in the blazes, the positive headlines are focusing on the Koalas.     

One of the areas that were hit the hardest was the koala habitats in the mid-north coast region of NSW. According to Federal Environment Minister, Sussan Ley, up to 30% of koalas in this region were killed during the bushfires and many more were hospitalized.

Now, five months on, the endangered critters are finally returning home. 

26 koalas will be released over the next few days, with habitats having recovered much earlier than expected due to significant rainfall in the mid-north coast area.

Australia is home to the adorable Koala Bear but they aren't the only cute animals that hang around the Outback. 

We have collected some of the cutest ones to cheer you up while you're at home. 

Three escaped baboons were seen on the grounds around Sydney's Royal Prince Alfred hospital on Tuesday, prompting mass hysteria in the area. New South Wales Police were called to the scene, where the primates were eventually corralled by officers and wildlife handlers. 

The hilarious incident unfolded when the male (the leader of the troop) was just about to undergo a vasectomy when he and his loyal troop members — who New South Wales Health Minister Brad Hazzard told The Daily Telegraph are his wives — made the great escape.

Several shocked witnesses called into local radio stations, sharing details on the sighting: "Mate, I'm dead set serious. I'm at RPA, I'm six floors up and I was just having a gaze out at the carpark … and there were three baboons in the carpark," the caller said. "I'm dead set serious. They even had shiny red bottoms."

Off the coast of Australia, near Lady Elliot Island, the world's only known pink manta ray has once again been spotted! 

Nicknamed "Inspector Clouseau," after the the main character of the classic "The Pink Panther," was photographed by Kristian Laine. 

According to Laine, she was original confused when seeing the pink manta, believing the ray's vibrant hue was due to a camera malfunction. Laine told Australian Geographic, "I was in the middle of a manta train with seven other mantas. I was looking through my viewfinder and was thinking it's weird that one of the mantas looks pink. I actually thought my strobes were playing up, making the manta look pink."

When she returned to land, Laine discovered that the sighting was authentic, and later took to Instagram to share photos of the "amazing and absolutely unforgettable encounter."

The last, and first, time the rare manta ray was spotted was in 2015, by diving instructor Ryan Jeffery off Lady Elliot Island (once again). 

The pink coloring on this manta ray remains a mystery. Project Manta's Asia Armstrong said, "The working theory is that it is just a different and very unique expression of the melanin, but that is still to be confirmed."

The brand new "Bushfire Heroes" figure was created for two major reasons- honoring those heroic firefighters fighting against the devastating bushfires in Australia but also as part of a fundraiser campaign. Pre-orders for the figurine are now open, with delivery expected in June. What a cute figurine and an awesome initiative! 

Both heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. 

Three Snowy Mountain Koalas, who were rescued from the Australia wildfire crisis, have been named after American firefighters who were tragically killed in the region. 

Two Thumbs Wildlife Trust Koala Sanctuary have named the koalas, and the trio are now in the temporary care of Australian National University (ANU).

Dr Karen Ford, an ANU researcher and who is running the makeshift hospital at ANU, said in a university statement, "We have 11 koalas at ANU that have come in from the various fire grounds in the region.They just keep arriving. There is nowhere else that has the facilities to hold these animals or this many at the moment."

Ford also mentioned that a couple of the koalas are being treated for burns, while the others are "quite skinny" from malnutrition, due to their habitats being completely burnt. 

Koalas are known to breed so slowly that it could take 100 years for the population to rebuild — so saving just one is crucial. That is why the koalas have been a central focus of relief efforts as the blaze spreads across the region.

Story via CBS News

Owen Colley is a six-year-old boy from Massachusetts who, according to his parents: "Was upset by the Australian bushfires so we wanted to provide an outlet for him to feel like he could do something to help. He's a huge animal lover and has been making clay characters for a while so together we thought out the clay koalas and offered it to friends and family as a "thank you" for donations for bushfire affected animals. Then his gran shared it with the local paper, so here we are...

Owen and his parents created a page on GoFundMe called "Owen's Australian Creature Rescue" through which they have raised more than 277,000$ so far. 

Well done, Owen!