Fremantle Dockers no laughing stock at Peel Zoo

Fyfe, Ballantyne and Crowley are three of the resident kookaburras at the zoo, and each shares an uncanny characteristic with it’s namesake.

Nat Fyfe the footballer has battled shoulder injuries throughout his young career, while Fyfe the kookaburra has a bung wing.

Hayden Ballantyne prefers to play his football on ground level and snag cheeky goals, Ballantyne the kookaburra refuses to fly for food and opts to live on the floor.

And finally, Ryan Crowley is a known pest on the field and was delisted from the Dockers this summer, while Crowley the kookaburra is renowned for beating up Fyfe.

Zookeeper Aimee Moore, who named the trio, has followed the Dockers since she was a young girl.

She decided to barrack for the Dockers after a bunch of her friends supported West Coast.

Now, Ms Moore refuses to let any zoo animal be named after an Eagles player.

“We have a blue and yellow macaw that some of the staff wanted to name Nic Nat, but I wasn’t having it,”

“Even if we got an eagle, I don’t think I’d let them call it that.”

The zoo received a shock during the AFL off-season when Ballantyne, the human form, popped in with his family for a day trip.

Although embarrassed, Ms Moore and the zookeepers had to point out there was in fact a bird named after him.

“We were a bit shy to tell him at first, but he was really enthused about it and even fed little Ballas a mouse,” she said.

While one of the birds is currently injured, another refusing to fly and the third a renowned bully, odds are they are still sharing more laughs than the Dockers this season.