Adorable scenes at the Australian Reptile Park today with Koala Keepers spotting an incredibly rare (and incredibly CUTE!) situation after seeing Elsa the koala with not one but TWO joeys on her back.
Elsa, who is known globally as the world’s most famous koala, is currently caring for her first son, named Olaf. Elsa shares the ‘Mums & Bubs’ yard with Rosie, who also has a joey around the same age, named Regina. When Keepers did their morning rounds this morning, they were shocked to find Elsa ‘babysitting’ both Olaf and Regina at the same time!
Rosie was seen in a nearby tree, relaxing as Elsa took on both mother and ‘aunty’ duties – playing with the two joeys and keeping the energetic pair busy.
Olaf (10 months) and Regina (11 months) are both at the age where they’re starting to venture off mum’s back to explore and practice tree climbing. With the pair both being so close in age, the joeys have become best friends and love playing together.
Head Mammals Keeper, Hewin Hochkins, stated, “Koalas only have one joey at a time but on rare occasions when the two females are living together with joeys of a similar age, you can sometimes see a female caring for two joeys at once!
“Both Olaf and Regina are already weaned off their mum’s milk and are at such a cute age where they’re getting more confident to explore and interact with other koalas. Because the joeys are so close in age, they’ve formed a really adorable bond!”
Guests to Australian Reptile Park can see Elsa and Rosie, along with their joeys Olaf and Regina, in the ‘Mums & Bubs’ koala yard. When they’re not sleeping, the joeys can be seen exploring, interacting with each other, and learning how to be koalas!
Proud of being an active supporter of wildlife conservation, the Australian Reptile Park continues to breed koalas in an effort to help boost population numbers for the endangered species. The program also seeks to educate Australians about koalas and with this years’ breeding season seeing more joeys born into the program, staff hopes the additional joeys and heightened awareness helps protect the species from extinction.
