Lockdown has separated many friends and family members; however, tough times can help unlikely friendships to blossom. That’s exactly how a koala named Elsa and Hope the wombat became besties while they were spending time together at Australian Reptile Park during the lockdown. Seriously, there are no better friends than these two. Just look at how cute they look together!
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Meet Hope and Elsa, a couple of cuties who became best buddies during the lockdown
Image credits: Australian Reptile Park
The reptile park is located in Somersby, New South Wales and is one of the most popular attractions in the area. Sadly, as the lockdown started, the park had to close its doors to visitors.
Image credits: Australian Reptile Park
During this time, the animals could only spend time with each other and their caregivers.
Image credits: Australian Reptile Park
That’s how Elsa and Hope became friends. As it turns out, the wombat was occasionally placed in the koala enclosure when the keepers were cleaning her cage. “Whilst the Australian Reptile Park was temporarily closed throughout April and May due to coronavirus, the pair became close buddies with keepers often putting Hope the Wombat in the enclosure with Elsa. It didn’t take long for them to become the best of friends!” Dan Rumsey, a zookeeper at the Australian Reptile Park told Bored Panda.
Image credits: Australian Reptile Park
When asked how they end up in the zoo, Dan said: “Elsa was born at the Australian Reptile Park last year. Her mum was experiencing mastitis so we had to intervene and she was hand raised by one of our keepers. Hope was brought to us as a rescue after her mum was hit and killed by a car.”
After seeing each other for the first time, the odd couple instantly bonded and couldn’t leave each other’s side.
Image credits: Australian Reptile Park
“We were quite surprised to see the friendship forming! Although as a species, the wombat and the koala are related, it’s unusual to see them interact like this!” Rumsey said.
Image credits: Australian Reptile Park
It’s not all that surprising that the two have become close friends, after all, wombats and koalas are close relatives.
Image credits: Australian Reptile Park
What both animals have in common is that they both are nocturnal. However, they have several differences. For instance, koalas prefer eating eucalyptus leaves and like spending most of their time in the trees
What both animals have in common is that they are: “Both marsupials with pouches. Give to birth to live young that stay in the pouch for the first six months. Both herbivores,” the zoo keeper told us.
Watch the video of their beautiful friendship below
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Video credits: Australian Reptile Park
However, they have several differences, such as: “Koalas are mostly arborial (lives in trees) and wombats dig burrows in the ground for shelter. They both have long claws but wombats use them for digging and koala use them for clinging to trees.” But these differences didn’t prevent them from becoming lockdown BFFs. After noticing how attached they both are, the keepers allowed them to enjoy each other’s company as much as possible.
Earlier last year, Elsa went viral after the park released a video of her as a newborn baby. People couldn’t believe how adorable she was. Now she’s sharing the attention with her cute friend Hope.
Here’s how people reacted
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