Meet baby Ash, first koala joey born at Australian park after bushfires decimated iconic animal’s numbers
The Australian Reptile Park has celebrated the birth of its first baby koala since bushfires devastated the area. The koala joey was born in January in captivity in the animal sanctuary on the New South Wales Central Coast after koala numbers were decimated by fires over the summer. However, the news of the birth was shared recently as joeys stay in their mothers’ pouch for around six months and zookeepers only recently checked on her.
The baby koala has reportedly been named Ash in honor of the thousands of koalas killed in the blazes. According to Zookeeper Dan Rumsey, Ash is a sign of hope for the future of Australia’s native wildlife. “They’re ambassadors for koalas in the wild: the ones who truly suffered in the bushfires. Koalas are iconic and even though ours are bred in captivity, we like to think we’re helping the fairly decimated population,” Rumsey said as reported by The Daily Mail.
The wildlife park also shared a video on Facebook on Tuesday, May 26, announcing the “First koala of the season”. "We have a very special announcement... Our very first koala of the season has popped out of Mum's pouch to say hello! Keepers have decided to name her Ash! Ash is the first koala born at the park since the tragic Australian bushfires and is a sign of hope for the future of Australia’s native wildlife," reads the caption of the social media post.
In another Facebook video, the Australian Reptile Park announced that they are all set to reopen on Monday, June 1, after a two-month shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, with Ash and the rest of the animals ready to meet the public. “We’re absolutely ecstatic to open our doors again. While I’ve been at work every day, we know the animals have been missing the visitors,” Rumsey said.
“We’re taking every precaution to ensure the safety of our visitors, staff, and animals and have implemented our COVID-Safe reopening plan,” he added.
Meanwhile, it has been reported that Ash has been joined by other new koala arrivals this year at Taronga Zoo, Wildlife Sydney and Melbourne Zoo. Rumsey said there were at least another three joeys in koala pouches at the Central Coast zoo, which means the Australian Reptile Park is on its way to beat the seven koala births seen last year.
As reported in January, the scale of devastation caused by the raging bushfires across Australia was unmatched, with reports indicating that the fire killed as many as one billion animals, beginning from September 2019. The initial report said at the time that the 130-odd fires burning across New South Wales and Victoria had claimed the lives of 480 million mammals, birds, and reptiles. However, later it was said that that the number was over 800 million.
"The original figure ― the 480 million ― was based on mammals, birds, and reptiles for which we do have densities, and that figure now is a little bit out of date. It’s over 800 million given the extent of the fires now ― in New South Wales alone,” Chris Dickman, an ecologist at the University of Sydney, said at the time.