Kangaroo still has some kick

Once thought to be extinct, the tree kangaroo was photographed for the first time in history earlier this year – and it also helps to serve as proof that the species is secretly thriving.

Goodnewsnetwork.org reports that botanist and wildlife enthusiast Michael Smith had been wandering throughout Indonesia, Kurdistan and Pakistan in the hopes of finding rare flowers – but what he discovered was even more significant.

After coincidentally hearing about the Wondiwoi tree kangaroo while exploring the New Guinea mountain range, Smith organised an expedition up the mountain and through the dense forest to see if he could spot one of these elusive creatures.

Smith told National Geographic after he and his team climbed roughly 1 500m up the mountainside, they “could smell scent marks left by the kangaroos – a sort of foxy smell”.

After days of unsuccessful searching and with no sight of the kangaroo, Smith and his team began heading back – and that was when his guide spotted something in the tree line above: the Wondiwoi, nestled in the branches, peeking its head out from the canopy. Smith, shocked and shaking with excitement, grabbed his camera and managed to snap the first known photo of the Wondiwoi.

What is even more significant is that Smith and his team’s account of multiple scratch marks and dung in the area suggest that there is a thriving population of Wondiwois.