Starting June 1, 2020, Australians were allowed to return to the Australian Reptile Park in central New South Wales. And those who did had something to celebrate – the birth of the first koala bear since the bushfires ravaged the continent from the summer of 2019 until early this year.
In an announcement on Facebook on May 26, 2020, the park called the newborn a sign of hope for native wildlife.
The little girl’s name is “Ash.”
“We have a very special announcement… Our very first koala of the season has popped out of Mums pouch to say hello!” the park wrote. “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.”
New South Wales was the hardest hit by the bushfires, which decimated over 13 million acres of land in that region alone.
The New South Wales Rural Fire Service and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison report that the fires destroyed 2,500 homes and killed 25 people in the southeast state where the city of Sydney is located.
The continent is estimated to have lost over 1 billion animals in total, and even entire species, according to the University of Sydney – and 800 million of those deaths were in New South Wales.
So it’s no surprise that new life brings renewed hope to the region and one of Australia’s iconic animals.
Ash’s birth is particularly important because the koala species is under threat as a result of the fires combined with disease and habitat destruction.
CNN said that a report published in March 2020 warned of an “immediate threat of extinction to koalas.”
The news outlet also interviewed International Fund for Animal Welfare campaigner Josey Sharrad, who explained why koalas were so susceptible to the fires:
“Koalas are particularly vulnerable to bushfires as they are slow-moving and live in eucalyptus trees that burn quickly and intensely. When fires sweep through their homes, they often don’t have time to escape, particularly in intense crown fires that rage through the treetops where they live.”
New South Wales also happens to be the location of the world’s only koala hospital in the town of Port Macquarie. Back in April, they released the good news that some of their patients were able to be released back into the wild.
Still, there’s still no guarantee that the koala population will recover – especially without the help of conservationists.
As for Ash, she’s in good hands. Immediately after her birth, she climbed right into the pouch of her mom Rosie where she stayed for months.
The wildlife park shared their first video when she poked her head out at five months old. (It’s normal for joeys to stay in their mother’s pouch after birth for about six months).
The birth of a healthy koala is a sign that the breeding program at the Australian Reptile Park could be a fruitful way to help save the species.
While claims that the animals are “functionally extinct” are false, they are greatly endangered and will need all the help they can get surviving as a species.
Be sure to scroll down below to catch a glimpse of baby Ash poking her head out of her mom’s pouch for the first time!
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