Spring is the season for babies at the Australian Reptile Park with park keepers starting up their daily pre-school feeding session for the newest joeys.
The animals currently in attendance are six Tasmanian Devil joeys, Ember the koala, Alinta the Yellow-footed rock-wallaby and Eddie the Eclectus parrot, with appearances from two Eastern Quolls and Rufus bettongs from the Australian Reptile Park’s sister charity, Aussie Ark.
These pre-school sessions include daily bottle feeds and a time for the joeys to experience the new sights and smells from their fellow new joey friends.
All animals are currently being hand-raised by different mammal keepers who are their adoptive ‘mothers’ and once they have grown a bit more, the joeys will eventually be reunited with their animal families at the Australian Reptile Park.
Head of Mammals, Dean Reid, said joining the joey pre-school sessions are the best part of his day.
“It’s something I and all the keepers here look forward to,” Reid said.
“Not only do we get to look after these gorgeous native Australian animals, but we get to have our own little Mother’s Club at the same time.
“The animals are all being hand raised-due to having a bit of a rocky start to their lives, all for different reasons, and it’s safe to say we all have our hands full.
“Looking after baby animals is no easy task, it includes a lot of two in the morning wake up calls.
“Thankfully, we’re a strong team and the animals are doing incredibly well and in perfect health.
“We can’t wait to reintroduce them to their animal families and get a full night’s sleep in a few months.”
Source:
Media release, Sep 24
Australian Reptile Park