It’s a GIRL! 💕 After months of catching little glimpses, tiny paws and plenty of pouch-side moments, our team has officially confirmed that the southern hairy-nosed wombat joey in our care is female 🇦🇺 Like all wombats, she had an incredibly tiny start to life. Southern hairy-nosed wombats are marsupials, and their joeys are born after a gestation of only about 21–30 days, weighing roughly half a gram and about the size of a jelly bean. From there, a joey makes its way into mom’s pouch, where it continues developing for several months before gradually beginning to explore the world outside. Native to the dry grasslands and woodlands of southern Australia, southern hairy-nosed wombats are the smallest of the world’s three wombat species. They are remarkable ecosystem engineers, using their powerful legs and claws to create extensive underground burrow systems, some stretching up to 100 metres long! Their digging also helps shape the landscape and influence the vegetation growing...