Meet the four-year-old 'wombat whisperer' who's best friends with the marsupials - and even learned how to walk with them. <br /><br />Ashlee Neill spends up to three hours per day playing with the wombats and has been around the animals since birth.<br /><br />Dad Josh Neill, 41, and his partner Amber Moyes rehabilitate wombats which have been injured in the wild or became orphans after their mothers died.<br /><br />The little girl is so good with the marsupials that she helps speed up their recovery and boosts their confidence. <br /><br />Josh, an electrician from Hayfield, Victoria, Australia, said: "When they're young and dependent they need a lot of attention or they stress quite badly. <br /><br />"They need to be following someone around or they'll stress because they're always looking for their mum.<br /><br />"With Ashlee, they get comfortable, they learn to eat grass, they learn to be outside, they run around.<br /><br />"If it weren't because of her they wouldn't rehab so quickly."<br /><br />The family started rehabilitating wombats in 2013, long before Ashlee was born.<br /><br />They release the animals into the wild after they've recovered, which normally takes about six months.<br /><br />At the moment, they are looking after four wombats.<br /><br />Ashlee doesn't have many playmates because they live in a rural area, so she and the wombats have become almost like siblings.<br /><br />Ashlee even learned to walk by leaning on a wombat, according to Josh. <br /><br />The four-year-old is so close to the animals that she has mostly foregone toys - choosing to play with the wombats all day instead.<br /><br />Josh said: "Some of those wombats are like her siblings. That's why people in the area call her 'the wombat whisperer.'<br /><br />"They're her friends, they're like a little family.<br /><br />"She doesn't have many toys so she goes outside, runs around with them and goes on little adventures.<br /><br />"It's really cute, sometimes I'll come inside and she'll just be reading them stories."<br /><br />Josh added: "I guess she's learned to read them.<br /><br />"They wouldn't really be this comfortable with anyone else, you need to build that trust."<br /><br />All this contact with the needy wombats has given Ashlee big dreams and she now wants to be a vet. <br /><br />Josh said: "She wants to be a vet. A lot of the animals aren't in good condition, there's not a lot of people to look up to out here and the vets safe them."
