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Adorable koala joey named Humphrey is the latest addition to Australia’s biggest zoo – the first to be born there in a year after bushfires devastated the population
- Taronga Zoo has welcomed addition of eight-month-old koala joey HumphreyÂ
- Humphrey first emerged two weeks ago and is first joey to be born in over a yearÂ
- Humphrey will remain with his mum Willow until he’s around 12 months-oldÂ
An eight-month-old koala joey named Humphrey is the latest adorable addition to Sydney’s famous Taronga Zoo.Â
Humphrey made his public debut on Wednesday, just two weeks after he first emerged from mum Willow’s pouch.
The adorable little animal is the first joey to be born at the popular tourist attraction in more than a year after devastating bushfires tore through the koala population.
He is the fifth joey Willow has given birth to, who has been invaluable in contributing to Taronga’s koala breeding program.
An eight-month-old koala joey named Humphrey has become the latest adorable addition at Sydney’s famous Taronga Zoo
Humphrey was named by one of Taronga’s foundation members who supported the zoo’s conservation and threatened species efforts for many years.Â
Senior koala keeper Laura Jones said Humphrey was settling very well into his new surroundings, and already attempted to eat eucalyptus leaves while maintaining a tight grip on his mum’s back.
Humphrey will remain with his mum until he’s about a year old where he will then learn to become more independent.
Koala joeys can stay in their mother’s pouch for up to eight months.
Ms Jones said as well as the danger of bushfires, koalas faced many threats when living out in the wild.
Humphrey made his public debut on Wednesday, just two weeks after he first emerged from mum Willow’s pouch
‘Koalas in the wild aren’t having a great time, we had some really catastrophic bushfires here in the east coast last year that made a really big dent in our koala numbers unfortunately,’ she said.
‘But there are other threats that continue to exist today like being hit by cars, dog attacks, some diseases and the really big one is land clearing.’
The koala keeper said there were simple steps people could take to ensure the animal’s habitat was kept safe.
These include using recycled products, staying alert when driving during dawn and dusk when koalas are out and about, and donating to koala enclosures to help fund their environments.
Visitors can get a glimpse of Humphrey by booking tickets for Taronga’s new koala encounter.Â
Humphrey was named by one of Taronga’s foundation members who has supported the zoo’s conservation and threatened species efforts for many years
Koala joeys can stay in their mother’s pouch for up to eight months
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