Not only does Robert Irwin have a West Aussie girlfriend, but he now has the State’s most famous marsupial at his zoo too.
Australia Zoo in Queensland welcomed three adorable quokkas into its zoo family earlier this month, with Irwin taking to social media today to let people know the little macropods had arrived.
In an adorable video posted to social media, the 19-year-old wildlife warrior can be seen on the ground, up close and personal with a quokka that’s licking his nose and face, while he tells his four million Instagram followers the good news.
“It’s a pretty exciting day at Australia Zoo because, for the first time ever, we’ve got quokkas!” he says, as the little quokka continues to give him kisses.
“Hello, how are you going?” Irwin asks the quokka. “Apparently, my nose is very tasty.”
Irwin, who is following in his late father Steve’s conservation footsteps, goes on to say the zoo has “been dreaming of quokkas for the longest time” and it was amazing to be able to say “we finally got ‘em”.
Irwin then continues to have a little chat with his new friend, “You are so cute,” he says. “Thanks for the kisses. Thank you very much.
“Welcome to the zoo. How are you finding everything so far? I love your little T-Rex arms. They’re very nice.”
With a reputation as “the world’s happiest animals”, quokkas are exclusive to the southwestern region of Australia and have become one of the many reasons to visit WA’s picturesque Rottnest Island, where an estimated 10,000 quokkas hop about living their best lives, with plenty of food and few predators.
Athletes and celebrities are known to travel to the beautiful island to seek out selfies with the friendly, smiling critters, including retired tennis champion Roger Federer and Aussie actors Hugh Jackman, Margot Robbie and Chris Hemsworth, just to name a few. More recently, BLACKPINK’S Lisa, a K-pop star, shared a quokka selfie with her 94.8 million Instagram followers in June and WWE superstar Logan Paul snapped a cute quokka picture back in February.
In August, rumours swirled that Irwin may be planning to move to the West Coast to be with his Perth-based girlfriend, Rorie Buckey, who’s finishing her studies.
Reports at the time suggested the young couple were finding the long-distance relationship between WA and QLD “hellish”.
Australia Zoo is also calling on the public to help name its three new adorable additions. The three highest bidders in an online auction will have the special privilege of naming the quokkas.
All proceeds from the auction go towards supporting the zoo’s conservation initiatives.