First echidna puggle born at reptile park

The Australian Reptile Park has celebrated a historic milestone with the birth of its very first short-beaked echidna puggle.

On Tuesday, August 26, Life Sciences Manager Hayley Shute saw the newborn for herself.

“I still can’t believe it,” she said.

“To witness this tiny miracle is a testament to our team’s dedication and the amazing care we give all our animals.

“It’s a moment we’ll never forget.”

This is a rare success in echidna husbandry.

“Only a few places in Australia have successfully done it, and now we are one of them,” Shute said.

Echidnas are one of only two egg-laying mammals in the world – the other being platypus.

Native to Australia and parts of New Guinea, they are notoriously difficult to breed in captivity.

Other Australian institutions have reported similar breakthroughs.

In December, 2018, Taronga Zoo Sydney announced the birth of two puggles – only the third and fourth bred there in more than 30 years.

“Echidnas are known to be a very challenging species to breed in a zoo environment, as they display very complex courtship behaviours and only require male interaction at very specific times,” Director of Wildlife Conservation and Science at Taronga, Simon Duffy, said at the time.

In 2015, a partnership between the University of Queensland and Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary also saw success, with researchers hoping their methods could help save the endangered long-beaked echidna.

“We now have a better understanding of the echidna’s temperature regulation requirements and we are seeking to identify what hormones are involved at different stages of the females’ breeding cycle,” Associate Professor Stephen Johnston said.

The Australian Reptile Park says such knowledge sharing is critical.

Operations Manager Brandon Gifford believes their breeding success was aided by regular human-animal interactions.

“These encounters build up the confidence of this naturally shy animal,” he said.

Echidnas lay a soft-shelled egg, which hatches in the mother’s pouch.

The puggle remains there for about 90 days, until its quills develop.

It is then moved to a burrow, where the mother continues to feed it until it is ready to leave the den.

Known for their long sticky tongues, echidnas feed primarily on ants and termites.