General News
23 December, 2020
Joey to the world
STAFF at the Cairns ZOOM & Wildlife Dome, the only Wildlife and Adventure experience in the Cairns CBD, are jumping for “jo-ey” with the emergence of a koala joey.
The female joey marks the fifth successful birth in the past twelve months across its parent company, The CaPTA Group.
The locally owned and operated company has been working hard to maintain a successful and genetically diverse population in their breeding programs across three wildlife parks: Rainforestation Nature Park, Cairns ZOOM & Wildlife Dome and Wildlife Habitat Port Douglas.
Three koala joeys emerged at Rainforestation earlier this year, and another one of CaPTA’s koalas is also currently expecting.
The company is calling for local landowners to lend a “koala-ity” helping hand, so they can expand their eucalypt plantations to sustainably feed future generations within their growing koala population.
The koala population throughout the Group has also expanded through acquiring several Queensland Species Management Plan (QSMP) koalas, that were born in the wild, but due to sustained injuries or extended human contact cannot return.
Although she has only just begun to emerge from her mother’s pouch, the female joey is already delighting wildlife keepers with her adorable antics.
The joey’s mother is Nellie, who, at 8 years old, is rather mature for a first-time mum, whilst the lucky dad-to-be is named Ollie.
Cairns ZOOM Wildlife Team Leader Ben Kahler said the new arrival will help highlight koala conservation to the public.
“Cairns ZOOM is a great place for the public to gain an admiration for koalas and to learn about how we need to protect this iconic species so that it can be seen by future generations,” he said.
The ZOOM wildlife team is planning to name the Koala joey in the coming months.
Any landowners interested in helping the species and growing eucalypt, particularly in the Northern Beaches area, should contact Cairns ZOOM & Wildlife Dome on 4031 7250.
