Koala and wombat strike up an unlikely friendship in Australian zoo
CGTN

Elsa the koala and Hope the wombat surprised zookeepers when they became inseparable during April and May in a zoo in Australia's New South Wales.

The two just spent two months together in isolation because of the novel coronavirus lockdown.

While the two mammals have something in common: they are both nocturnal, they are actually quite different. Koalas are tree dwellers that feed on eucalyptus leaves exclusively, but wombats are ground dwellers and eat different kinds of plants and roots.

Koalas are listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), because of the bushfires this year that have wiped out a lot of their natural habitats.

Common wombats are listed as least concern and their population is currently stable according to IUCN.

(All images via VCG)

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