koala

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! 

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 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.

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! 

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!

Meet the goodest boy we know of right now -- Bear! 

Bear is a koala detection dog. That is his job. And since the fires started raging in Australia this past September, Bear has been hard at work scouring the Earth for koalas. 

Bear is a blue-eyed border collie/koolie mix who works with the University of Sunshine Coast (USC) Detection Dogs for Conservation. Bears job is to sniff out sick, orphaned and injured koalas across New South Wales and Queensland (both of which had taken on the fires rampage the hardest). 

According to the USC site, Bear was rescued from a shelter and has an endless supply of energy, an obsessive nature, and is completely uninterested in humans -- which turns out doesn't make for a great pet, but they're the exact qualities he needs to locate and track koalas. (Sometimes he looks for other marsupials, like the endangered Northern quoll.) 

USC Detection Dogs for Conservation Senior Research Dr. Celine Frere said in a news release, "Bear is highly focused and brilliant at focusing on one thing – his ball which is his reward, which makes him perfectly suited for the job. He also has zero prey drive which is essential for a wildlife detection dog as they need to focus purely on the scent and not the animal, ultimately ignoring the animal."

Bear was trained by USC academic and also works in partnership with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).

Story via Mother Nature Network

 A water tanker driver in the fires zone in Australia got an unexpected cab mate who he called: "Ray of sunshine after nightmare"

Story via: Sydney Morning Herald

Here are some of the cutest koala memes that ever roamed the earth. 

Once you see this koala paws, you can't unsee them...

People on Twitter are freaking out and sending dog paws photos after @41Strange shared the revelation that they form the shape of a koala.

Twitter is in tears after a video of a woman rescuing a badly burnt and wailing koala from a bushfire went viral. The koala was spotted crossing a road amongst the flames when a local woman, who told Nine News her name was Toni, rushed to the koala's aid, wrapping the animal in her shirt and pouring water over it. Toni then transported the injured koala to the nearby Port Macquarie Koala Hospital, a facility that is treating up to 15 affected koalas.   

Aww. Let's try that again — Awwwwww.

At 150 days old and less than 500 grams, This tiny orphaned koala looks breathtakingly small. Actually, she should have still been in her mother's pouch but she was brought to Werribee Open Range Zoo by a wildlife carer three weeks ago after she fell from a tree in a Blue-gum plantation area. Sadly, her mom didn't survive and an external veterinarian had already made the difficult decision to euthanize her. 

According to National Geographic, female koalas carry their offspring inside their pouches for up to six months, but because of the unfortunate circumstances, this female joey does not have that privilege.

The baby koala is now recovering well but will it will take a year of careful monitoring before hopefully being returned to the wild. 

Story via: Metro