Wombat Becomes Best Friends With Teddy After Being Diagnosed With Depression

This is Tonka the wombat, and he’s become best friends with this lookalike teddy - after his mum was killed in a car accident.

The adorable marsupial was taken in by the Billabong Sanctuary in Queensland, Australia, and was soon given the toy to comfort him, but the pair are now said to be inseparable.

Tonka’s handler Samantha Sherman even explained that the toy has to be regularly replaced due to wear and tear - such is the bond between the two.

Samantha said: ‘Many orphaned animals take comfort in cuddling teddies and Tonka just never grew out of it – he’s really just a big baby at heart. The teddy doesn’t have a name because he gets new ones when needed.’

‘He has big teeth so over time, as he carries his teddy around, it gets some tears,’ she explains. Whenever he rips a teddy, we make sure he gets a new one from our gift shop right away.’

Tonga experienced double tragedy in 2011 when a cyclone hit the sanctuary shortly after his mum died.

It meant that the shelter was closed for eight weeks, and he lost about 20 percent of his body weight, before being diagnosed with clinical depression.

But now, the cuddles have returned, and Tonka receives all the loving from his handlers on a daily basis.

Sam added: ‘In the morning when the rangers get into work, Tonka likes a little cuddle and scratch before we clean out his enclosure’.

‘As soon as his den is clean, he grabs his teddy and curls up for a nap before the wombat show.’

‘The only time we take it away is if, when it rains and the teddy falls outside of his burrow, it can get very dirty and wet. Since Billabong Sanctuary is in the tropics, the teddy needs to be cleaned to avoid any bacteria and growth, so Tonka needs a spare one.’

N’awww.