Lovelorn koala nabbed after zoo escape in hunt for mate
The two-year-old was eventually found stuck in a nearby tree after a 'Houdini-style' escape
A handout photo taken and received on October 5, 2017 from the Australian Reptile Park shows a koala at the Australian Reptile Park some 50 kilometres north of Sydney, park officials said. Australian wildlife staff needed a crane to rescue a lovelorn female koala who escaped from her enclosure at the start of her first mating season, impatient to find a partner. PHOTO: AFP
SYDNEY:
Australian wildlife staff needed a crane to rescue a lovelorn female koala who escaped from her enclosure at the start of her first mating season, impatient to find a partner.
Irene the koala was discovered missing from her holding yard at the Australian Reptile Park outside Sydney early Thursday, park officials said. The two-year-old was eventually found stuck in a nearby tree after a 'Houdini-style' escape through an opening in her pen, they said.
Rare white koala born at Australian zoo
General manager Tim Faulkner said Irene had only recently reached sexual maturity and this week marked the start of the annual koala mating season.
"It's not the first time we've had a young female koala keen on finding a mate, and it's no coincidence she made her way out of her yard to find a mate's yard," he said.
Butterfly photobombs koala at Australian wildlife park
Park officials insisted Irene's desires would be satisfied, but more prosaically. She "will be introduced to the correct male after 'selective pairings are made' managed by a stud book," the park said.
Australian wildlife staff needed a crane to rescue a lovelorn female koala who escaped from her enclosure at the start of her first mating season, impatient to find a partner.
Irene the koala was discovered missing from her holding yard at the Australian Reptile Park outside Sydney early Thursday, park officials said. The two-year-old was eventually found stuck in a nearby tree after a 'Houdini-style' escape through an opening in her pen, they said.
Rare white koala born at Australian zoo
General manager Tim Faulkner said Irene had only recently reached sexual maturity and this week marked the start of the annual koala mating season.
"It's not the first time we've had a young female koala keen on finding a mate, and it's no coincidence she made her way out of her yard to find a mate's yard," he said.
Butterfly photobombs koala at Australian wildlife park
Park officials insisted Irene's desires would be satisfied, but more prosaically. She "will be introduced to the correct male after 'selective pairings are made' managed by a stud book," the park said.