PREVIEW

Adorable baby animals down under enjoyed their first Christmas.

This year’s adorable newcomers at the Australian Reptile Park were captured revelling in the Christmas spirit.

Heartwarming video footage and images show Albert the koala and Keeper Hayley Shute, alongside his surrogate mother getting into the Christmas spirit, while the rest of this season's koala joeys enjoyed a fresh bunch of eucalyptus leaves, adorned with Christmas baubles.

Wilbur the wombat joey celebrated with a warm bottle of milk from his surrogate mother, Keeper Seleena, as well as exploring his Christmas stocking to see if Santa has left him any goodies ahead of Christmas Day. The two newest Tasmanian devil joeys, Charlie and Lola also got a special meat treat as a present for landing on Santa’s ‘nice list’ this Christmas.

Tiny Tim the tortoise, known for his slow and steady nature, enjoyed a prickly pear 'Christmas tree' as well as some strawberries from Keeper Imogen. Lastly, the kangaroo joeys dug into a casuarina wreath with their favourite treats - sweet potato and carrots!

Operations Manager at the Australian Reptile Park Billy Collett said, “We love getting into the Christmas spirit here and so do our animals! We needed to make sure these little guys had the perfect first Christmas and I think we pulled it off!”

Collett continues, “Although the park itself closes on Christmas Day, a few keepers still come to work to ensure the animals are fed and enjoying Christmas just like everyone else. It’s just as important to us that we spend our Christmas with these guys as well as our human families, as they are a part of family too!”