Blackbutt Proves To Be Fertile Ground For Wildlife
Newcastle Herald
Saturday October 7, 2000
THE fertility gods have smiled on Blackbutt's emus and koalas.
For the first time in 20 years, Blackbutt's emus have hatched chicks by themselves.
Four chicks hatched in their nests last weekend, joining another raised in an incubator.
Three of the five chicks will be on display from today at the picnic area, together with two male koala joeys Mida and Didge, and their mothers Holly and Lucy, in the wildlife exhibit.
The koalas are crowd favourites but Blackbutt staff are especially proud of the emu chicks.
Blackbutt ranger Paul Metcalfe said emus had unusual breeding habits in that the female left her eggs in the care of her male partner.
`We've never had an egg hatch in the wild before,' Ranger Metcalfe said yesterday.
`They take about 60 days to hatch and the birds don't always stay on them. They'll leave them and crows can be a problem. But this year, maybe it's the drier weather, we had the three hatch on the nest over the long weekend.'
Ranger Metcalfe said emus were generally friendly birds most of the year but the males became extremely aggressive when chicks were around.
`In the non-breeding season they like being patted and they like having the hose on them in the hot weather but during the breeding season they're dangerous, they go feral,' he said.
The two koala joeys were about seven weeks old, Ranger Metcalfe said.
© 2000 Newcastle Herald
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