Longleat keepers organised a special party for Hazel the koala at the weekend to celebrate her first birthday.
Hazel’s birth was a major milestone for the Wiltshire safari park which opened its purpose-built facility in 2019.
As well as being a first for Longleat, she is also the first southern koala to have been born anywhere in Europe.
“This isn’t just a big day for Hazel, it’s also an incredibly special one for the whole team here at Longleat,” said lead keeper Jon Ovens.
“It’s not easy to come up with a special treat for a koala as their diet is entirely made up of eucalyptus leaves, but we ensured both her and Violet had a nice selection of fresh leaves from a variety of different types of trees grown on a special plantation here at Longleat,” he added.
Baby koalas, known as joeys, spend the first six months of life living inside their mothers’ pouches and even, at a year old, Hazel still remains largely dependent on mum Violet.
“Hazel’s birth has taught us so much about the southern koalas’ complex lifecycle and we’ve also been extremely lucky that Violet is such an attentive and caring mother,” said Jon.
“Southern koalas in the wild are facing a series of threats from climate change, habitat destruction and diseases so Hazel represents a unique opportunity to learn more about the species and what we need to do to help secure their long-term survival,” he added.
At Longleat the koalas’ purpose-built enclosure includes a natural stream, eucalyptus trees, climbing poles, a mix of indoor and outdoor habitats, viewing areas, and a medical care unit.
Koala Creek is part of a ground-breaking joint initiative with the Government of South Australia, Cleland Wildlife Park and Longleat to support research and raise funds for koala management and conservation.
In the aftermath of the devastating bushfires in 2019, keepers from Koala Creek travelled out to South Australia to help with the recovery programme and in 2020 Longleat donated over £50,000 to support koala conservation and recovery programmes.
