For the first time in nearly 42 years, Annie the short-beaked echidna voluntarily stepped on the scale! At 42 years old, Annie weighs in at a healthy ~6 kg and celebrated her scale success with specially prepared treats from our Nutrition team. This scale training was a fantastic opportunity made possible by Annie’s recent behavior. Over the past 1.5 months, likely influenced by the time change and shorter daylight hours, she has appeared more comfortable in the presence of her Wildlife Care team during feeding times. Building on this progress, the team introduced new feeding tubes (as seen in the video below) and then placed a scale in her habitat to further test her comfort level. The team’s patience paid off—after about 30 minutes, Annie confidently stepped onto the scale! 🎉 Fun fact: An echidna’s short snout is only half the length of its head. If you look closely, you’ll notice two bright eyes. Their small mouths open just enough for their worm-like, sticky tongues to flick ...