Christmas comes early for baby animals at Australian Reptile Park

[December 23, 2020]  By Cordelia Hsu

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Christmas has come early for some animals celebrating their first Yuletide holiday at the Australian Reptile Park.

In footage released on Wednesday, some of the park's youngest residents, including a koala joey named Pipsqueak, were seen being given treats, surrounded by Christmas decorations.

"We wanted to bring smiles to people's faces all over by showing off our beautiful little joeys that are born this year," said Brandon Gifford, a keeper at the park.

"We needed to make sure these little guys had the perfect first Christmas and I think we pulled it off."

Two Tasmanian Devil joeys, Wolf and Alula, were seen in the footage biting at the bobble of a Santa hat, while Boobook owl chick Mango perched in a Christmas wreath.

The park, which is about an hour's drive out of Sydney, will be closed to the public on Christmas Day, though Gifford said some keepers will come in to feed the animals.

(Reporting by Cordelia Hsu; Editing by Karishma Singh)

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