Rare case of wallaby fostering tree kangaroo

SYDNEY—Australian zookeepers on Tuesday said they had successfully fostered an orphaned tree kangaroo with a surrogate wallaby in a rare case after its mother was crushed by a branch.

The Goodfellow’s tree kangaroo, named Makaia by its carers at Adelaide Zoo in South Australia, was just five weeks old and at risk of dying after its three-year-old mother was killed by a falling tree branch in November.

In a bid to save the joey, which was too young to be hand-reared, zookeepers placed the baby marsupial in the pouch of a female yellowfoot rock wallaby in a “crossfostering” technique they hoped would help it stay alive.

“We were so excited when we confirmed the joey had made it past the first critical 24-hour period,” said Adelaide Zoo’s team leader of natives, Gayl Males.

“We were uncertain as to whether the joey was going to be accepted. The joey... first popped its head out of the pouch around the end of January. It was certainly a sight to see a tree kangaroo joey, with its reddish-tan fur, bright blue eyes and long claws riding around in a wallaby.”

Goodfellow’s tree kangaroos, named after British zoological collector Walter Goodfellow, are found in the rainforests of New Guinea. They are classified as endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, with the species under threat from habitat loss and overhunting.

The zoo’s veterinarian David McLelland said cross-fostering had not been attempted with a tree kangaroo before.

Makaia lived with his surrogate mother for three-and-ahalf months before Males took over caring for him.