Lucky joey sees in new year
NAMELESS but ready for the new year, this baby red kangaroo got her first glimpse of the world on Monday.
Just four months old, the joey was found on the road near Cloncurry before being taken in by Townsville animal carer Margaret Niehoff.
“She opened one eye for the first time on New Year’s Day to see 2018,” she said.
“At this stage she is just a blob, and only just starting to vocalise.
“Once her eyes are both fully open she will see this great big world.”
The red kangaroo was found inside her dead mother’s pouch after residents stopped when they came across her on the road.
Ms Niehoff said stopping was the message to travellers, as the joey was still tucked in the mother’s pouch at the time, attached to the teat.
“The baby would have been bitten by ants, crows, would have stayed starving in mum’s pouch,” she said.
“She will be in here for a year, that’s how long it will take to feed her, wean her and prepare to be released back into the wild.”
Ms Niehoff has also been nursing a fourmonth- old bettong who was found at Hervey’s Range on Christmas Eve.
“They are a very fast maturing animal so it will hopefully only be here for six months,” she said.
Anyone who comes across injured wildlife is urged to call North Queensland Wildlife Care on their 24- hour number shown on the website.