Joy at koala joeys’ arrival

BALLARAT Wildlife Park keepers have welcomed eight koala joeys this season, the highest number they have had in a single year.

The boom in babies is due to an increase of mature koalas at the park.

The joeys range in age from three months to six months old and head mammal keeper Cass Handcock said they are all healthy and happy.

“It’s our most successful season so far,” she said. “Everyone is doing really well and they’re all at different stages.

“Some are still just a lump in their mum’s pouch, some are starting to stick their heads out, some are starting to stick limbs out and some are starting to eat leaves.”

With wild koalas under threat due to habitat clearing, Ms Hancock said it is important to breed them at wildlife parks and zoos.

“They’re not doing too well in the wild so it’s important to have an insurance population in wildlife parks and zoos around Australia in case they do go extinct in the wild,” she said.

“Their main threats are habitat clearing, so they’re losing their home and losing the corridors that they can get between the homes that they live in.”