(Picture: Caters News)

Of all the weird and wonderful critters in the the world, wombats are surely near the top of the list.

The great big lumps of fluff are the closest thing we’ve got to wild teddy bears.

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God bless people like Julie and Neville then, two Aussie grandparents who’ve spent over $12,000 on raising and protecting a bunch of adorable wombats.

They insist that running the Bellaboo Wildlife Shelter is no different to raising baby humans – they feed their wombat ‘children’ milk, bathe them, and ten-month-old Rosie the wombat (pictured above) even joins the couple in bed at night.


‘Wombats are like my babies and I have an undying love for them,’ Julie, 61, explains.

(Picture: Caters News)

Rosie was rescued at just six months old after her mother was killed by a car. Thankfully, Julie and Neville were on hand to adopt.



‘They definitely see me as their mother,’ she continues. ‘They’re such loving and loyal creatures who really enjoy their cuddles.

‘Rosie likes to spoon me and if I’m lying on the couch she will jump up and snuggle into me. She’s just started giving us kisses and we kiss her on the mouth.

‘I’ll say “Rosie – give mummy kisses” and she lifts her little head up – she is just like a little puppy dog. Wherever I am she is always at my feet and she follows me everywhere.’

(Picture: Caters News)

When she’s not handing out kisses, Rosie spends her time playing with the couple’s dog, Barney.

She’s got a bunch of other friends too, with Julie and Neville also caring for a gang of other wombats, two baby kangaroos, two blue-tongues lizards, two cats, and some birds.

‘I’ve always adored animals and wombats are especially close to my heart,’ the mother-of-two-humans said. ‘They’re easy to look after and just love attention. People don’t realise that wombats are incredibly loving creatures.’

(Picture: Caters News)

Once they’re suitably cared for, Julie and Neville have the hard – but important – task of releasing their wombats back into the wild.

‘You have them since they’re babies and raise them so it is sad when they leave. It is especially hard the first night after they’re gone, I do really miss them,’ Julie admits.

‘But you sort of just know when it’s time for them to go and do what they were put on this earth to do. They need to go out and do wombat things, not be stuck inside the house.’

Good work, guys. If you ever need a hand with the wombat hugs, you know where to find us.

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