'Miles' the dibbler is cute, but he also marks a major breeding milestone
It's been a long road for the dibbler, an animal mostly found in the south of Western Australia.
The marsupial was once thought to be extinct, thanks to extensive land clearing and destruction of its habitat. It was only in 1967 that it was rediscovered, albeit in much smaller numbers.
That's why the birth of Miles the dibbler is something worth celebrating. Miles marks the 1000th dibbler that has been born at Perth Zoo. And you bet -- he is adorable.
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Weighing 33 grams (1.16 oz), Miles is the biggest of a litter of seven, with the zoo being the only one in the world that's breeding the creatures. Dibblers aren't usually named by zookeepers, but this milestone was a rare exception.
"We don't normally name the dibblers ... but it's such a milestone for the breeding program, we thought Miles was a fitting name," zookeeper Lesley Shaw said in a statement via email.
It's a tough job breeding dibblers, as the mating season is only two or three weeks a year. Zookeepers need to time introductions between males and females very precisely. When they're born, they're smaller than a grain of rice and only one zookeeper is allowed to work in the breeding centre at a time, to ensure noise and disturbance is kept to a minimum.
"The ultimate goal is that we do ourselves out of a job. We would love to see the dibbler's conservation threat status improve to a point where they are thriving in the wild and zoo breeding is no longer needed. We've done that for other species, so that's the aim," Shaw said.
[h/t ABC News]
Topics Animals Sustainability
