Roo a long way from home

DANIEL BATEMAN A DISORIENTATED tree kangaroo has been found in a Kewarra Beach backyard, far from its rainforest home.

The four-year-old Lumholtz tree kangaroo, which was initially mistaken for a possum by the beach resident, was later found to be suffering from damage to her eyes and had been starving.

The species is usually located in high altitude rainforests on the Tablelands.

Boongarry Veterinary Surgery vet Dr Annabelle Olsson, who treated the endangered marsupial, believed the animal’s poor vision may have contributed to it becoming dis- orientated and finding its way down the Macalister Range to Kewarra Beach.

She said the tree kangaroo would be brought to a wildlife hospital on the Tablelands for rehabilitation.

“There’s no doubt she would have starved to death if she was not brought in,” she said.