ZOO staff made a special effort for Remi’s fifth birthday this week as he continues to thrive despite his cancer diagnosis.

You will remember from earlier diaries that Remi the Jaguar was diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma, a very aggressive form of malignant cancer, after a lump was removed from his head in July.

Although his prognosis isn’t good we are thrilled that Remi continues to thrive and is currently showing no signs of feeling unwell.

He continues to eat well, play and snuggle with mum Bonita. Happy birthday big fella!

For those who remember the story of Wallaby Cupcake’s survival we were thrilled to find out this week that our little Cuppers has been spotted with a baby of her very own!

Cupcake unfortunately lost her mum when she was a very small Joey and was hand reared by staff here at Safari Zoo.

Weighing in at a very tiny 400g Cupcake was found at her mum’s side last September by keepers doing their morning checks.

Unfortunately her mum did not make it and the tiny wallaby was only an estimated 100 days old with about 60 per cent of pouch life completed.

Regular two-hour feeds began and a makeshift pouch was constructed out of snuggly towels and canvas shopping bags so she could be carried ‘just like mum would’.

In April, with the arrival of the nice weather, Cupcake made her first hops into the big wide world as she was released into the safari enclosure to join her fellow wallabies.

This week we discovered that Cupcake’s Joey is still in her pouch, and whilst Cupcake is able to be handled for vet visits and the like, she isn’t tame so it has proven difficult to get a clear shot of her with her Joey for you guys.

This is a testament to the way in which she was hand reared - it is sometimes difficult to maintain an animal’s ‘wildness’ when they are so dependent upon humans from such an early age, so her foster mums and dads did an amazing job.