First Koala Has Been Born In Wildlife Park Since Devastating Bushfires

May 28, 2020

The Australian Reptile Park on the New South Wales coast of Australia has announced its first baby koala birth of the season.

Born in January, this is the first baby koala to be born in the park since last year's devastating bushfire season, dubbed the "Black Summer", took the lives of many koalas across the country. 

Koalas were one of the animals most hurt by Australia's Black Summer bushfires, but the Australian Reptile Park on the east coast has just announced some exciting koala news. They have finally been able to check on a new baby joey that was born back in January.

Because joeys stay in their mother's pouch for the first stages after birth, the park was only now able to check on the well-being of the newborn koala. 

The newborn koala has been named Ash in honor of the koalas lost to the Black Summer. According to news.au.com, zookeeper Dan Rumsey said:

“Ash represents the start of what we’re hoping to be another successful breeding season."

He continued to talk about the importance and relevance of koalas to today's culture:

“Koalas are iconic … and even though ours are bred in captivity, we like to think we’re helping the fairly decimated population. They’re ambassadors for koalas in the wild: the ones who truly suffered in the bushfires."

According to Port News, up to 85% of the koala population was lost due to the bushfires. According to The Sydney Morning Herald, environment minister Sussan Ley said that koalas could become endangered due to the fires. She also announced a $50 million funding plan in order to help animal populations that were affected by the Black Summer. Ms. Ley told reporters:

"It may be necessary... to see whether in certain parts of the country, koalas move from where they are, which is often vulnerable, up to endangered."

Even experts were shocked at the total loss of life due to the bushfires. Committee chair Cate Faehrmann told the Australian Associated Press: 

"That's extremely shocking and really should be a wake-up call to the government to pause any threats to koala habitat including logging and development in key areas. There are so many threats that if we are going to stop this wonderful animal from becoming extinct we have to really really prioritize securing and protecting their habitat now."

While Ash is just one baby koala, the hope is that many more will be born in order to support the regrowth of the koala population in Australia. 

What do you think of Ash the koala? Will you be looking out for new koala births? Let us know your thoughts and be sure to pass this on to other animal lovers!