THE WOMBAT WHISPERER

Little Ashlee is a mini-Steve Irwin in the making, just as at home with furry koala bears as she is with deadly snakes

- SIPHOKAZI ZAMA

LIKE most four-year-olds she has friends who are around the same size as her – but that’s about where the similarities end. Her little pals are furry and scaly and prickly – sometimes even deadly – and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

Ashlee Neille lives in a remote part of Victoria in Australia and helps her mom, Amber, and dad, Josh, look after rescued koala bears, wombats and snakes.

In viral videos the little girl can be seen helping her dad look after the animals, holding a pair of baby wombats and dragging Banjo the snake into his cage.

“She’s like a mini-Steve Irwin,” says Josh, referring to the late Aussie conservationist and TV personality known as the Crocodile Hunter.