Sightings of Woodland Park Zoo's first baby wallaby
Sightings of Woodland Park Zoo's first baby wallaby
A 5-month-old wallaby joey at Woodland Park Zoo, shown in photos, has begun peeking out of mama’s pouch. The baby wallaby is the first birth of a wallaby at the zoo.
Dennis Dow/Woodland Park Zoo
Wed, 03/28/2012
With a bit of patience and luck, visitors to Woodland Park Zoo may spot the head of a 5-month-old, red-necked wallaby peeking out of its mother’s pouch. The infant wallaby, known as a joey in the marsupial world, is the first baby wallaby born at the zoo and is the first offspring for 3-year-old mom Kiley and 2-year-old father Maka.
The gender of the newborn joey has not been determined and is estimated to currently weigh just over a pound.
Wallabies are smaller members of the kangaroo family and are found primarily in Australia. At birth, the young are tiny, helpless, and undeveloped, weigh less than a gram and are roughly the size of a bean. The blind, hairless babies make the long trek after birth into the mother’s pouch where they suckle and develop over several months.
Zoo-goers can encounter the wallabies in the zoo’s Australasia exhibit along with wallaroos and emus, large ostrich-like birds. According to Deanna Ramirez, a collection manager at Woodland Park Zoo, the mother can be identified by an orange ear tag on the front of her right ear.
“But be prepared. Kiley is quite shy,” notes Ramirez. “She tends to hide behind a row of bushes but occasionally ventures toward the front of the exhibit. Visitors may have to exercise a little patience for a sighting of mom and the joey, but it’s worth the reward of a cute photo opportunity. The joey is characteristically curious and is sticking its arms and feet out of the pouch as well.”
In another two to three months, the joey should begin hopping around outside of the pouch but will continue going in and out of the pouch for feeding. “It should be completely out of the pouch later this summer. For now, if you watch closely, you can see the joey moving around inside the mother’s pouch,” explained Ramirez.
Another birth has taken place in the Australasia exhibit. Zookeepers last week confirmed the presence of another newborn joey, this time in the pouch of a wallaroo. “We should be catching the first sightings of the wallaroo joey sometime in June or July,” added Ramirez.
