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Carly Humphrys, mammal keeper at Alice Springs Desert Park, said 'Ina', AKA 'Puggly', had hatched not long before being discovered at Imanpa, a remote community 200 kilometres south of the town.

Source : PortMac.News | Street :

Source : PortMac.News | Street | News Story:

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'Ina' the Hand-raised echidna defying the odds
Carly Humphrys, mammal keeper at Alice Springs Desert Park, said 'Ina', AKA 'Puggly', had hatched not long before being discovered at Imanpa, a remote community 200 kilometres south of the town.

Ina the orphaned echidna is going from strength to strength after a tough start to life.

"She was a tiny little thing that sat in the palm of your hand and she only weighed 112 grams — her eyes were closed, no spines, completely pink," Ms Humphrys said.

Now, Ina tips the scales at 2.6 kilograms.

"Today is an exciting day. We have actually moved our echidna up into the nocturnal house for display," Ms Humphrys said.

"That way we can monitor her a lot more closely."

Stayin' alive

The puggle's chances of surviving were low, which was why the keepers were hesitant to name Ina in her early stages of life.

The zookeepers refer to Ina as a female despite not knowing for certain; they are hesitant to put the 10-month-old monotreme under anaesthetic to determine her sex at this time.

Ina was temporarily named Puggly when she didn't eat for the first 10 days at the desert park.

"There are so many factors you have to think about when hand-raising the echidna, and you also have to think about what would naturally occur in the wild," Ms Humphrys said.

Ms Humphrys and her team were doing everything they could to ensure the survival of the puggle.

"I think that's where my patience and determination comes in, to try to make her survive," she said.

"To get her through to the stage that she is now, where she's fully weaned and now on display in our nocturnal house is an amazing achievement."

Career highlight

Ms Humphrys said that hand-raising an echidna had been the highlight of her career.

"It's not something you get to do often in your zookeeping career," she said.

"It's not an animal that comes into care here at the desert park very often — the last hand-raised echidna was 10 years ago."

Ms Humphrys said she learnt a lot about herself during the process.

"It's been the challenge of it all," she said.

"I never realised how much patience I had to be able to spend [time] with this puggle."


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