I’ve always thought that one of the most fascinating qualities of the animal kingdom is how it adapts to being isolated.
Small, isolated pieces of land often carry rich, abundant species that appear nowhere else on Earth, like the aye-aye, a strange animal that is found only in Madagascar.
Of course, probably the most famous ecosystem like this can be found in the island nation of Australia. The massive piece of land is home to over 70% of all of the world’s marsupials, including kangaroos, wallabies, and even adorable little koalas like Imogen.
Also among Australia’s storied fauna? The chubby, fluffy, and downright adorable wombat!
These sturdy, grayish-brown marsupials are native to Australia like so many of their cousins, but the adorable critters don’t look much like kangaroos or koalas. Instead, they tend to look a bit like very small brown bears. In other words, incredibly cute!
These animals roam free all over Australia, but a handful of orphaned wombats, including the dynamic duo Belle and Phoenix, are being reared by hand in the Healesville Sancturary in Victoria. Check out these two cuties in action in the video below, and watch for the hilarious moment at 3:44!
And if these cuties made you wish there were wombats closer to home, please SHARE on Facebook!
