Belfast Zoo has announced a new ‘Animals of Australia’ habitat, with Australian creatures returning to the zoo this month.
The zoo will transform its former elephant enclosure into a new habitat to showcase the diversity of Australian wildlife and the challenges it faces. Several threatened and endangered Australian species will join the zoo from next year.
The first arrivals to the habitat are the eastern grey kangaroo and the red-necked wallaby. Visitors can view these marsupials from 8 August.
Zoo manager Alyn Cairns said: “We are thrilled to have this new habitat at Belfast Zoo. This is an exciting development for us, and we appreciate the efforts of everyone who has come together to create this new and improved space.
“The arrival of the new Australian animals is a great way to educate the public about the conservation work that zoos do as part of European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) breeding programmes and highlight the extinction crisis of many of Australia’s native species.”
Per a press release, most of Australia‘s wildlife is found nowhere else on the planet. Australia is home to more species than any other developed country.
This is because Australia is so far from other landmasses, which resulted in the evolution of the animals in isolation in that area.
Australian animals return to zoo this month
Key threats to Australian wildlife include habitat loss and fragmentation, climate change, invasive species, and various human activities such as hunting and pollution.
With its new habitat, Belfast Zoo aims to educate and inform visitors of the threats to Australian animals. It will continue its conservation work with next year’s arrival of threatened and endangered Australian species.
Last year, Belfast Zoo opened a new state-of-the-art enclosure for its Barbary lions, which are extinct in the wild and part of an international breeding programme.
Images courtesy of Belfast Zoo
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