Spring means new beginnings and for Healesville Sanctuary, a display of the spring babies, but in summer you can see these spring babies come out from under those pesky pouches that keep them covered up.
This summer is the perfect time to visit Healesville Sanctuary and see some pouch potatoes venture out from their warm and safe little sanctuary.
Healesville Sanctuary recently celebrated the birth of an endangered Goodfellow’s tree kangaroo – the first ever to be born at the sanctuary.
Mani and her breeding partner Bagam were successfully paired at the beginning of 2016 and after a routine pouch check earlier this year; keepers discovered Mani had a tiny joey growing in her pouch.
The joey has already spent six months inside its mum’s pouch before tentatively poking its head out for the first time on a recent chilly winter’s morning and it’s expected to be hopping around its enclosure this summer.
Keepers said that over the coming months, the youngster will continue to venture out of the pouch becoming more independent as it learns from its parents.
The new addition has been welcomed by the wider conservation community with only 14 species of Tree Kangaroo recorded and most populations in decline.
Mani, Bagam, and now their little joey is yet to be named but all are on display at the Kangaroo Country exhibit.
A koala joey also started venturing from first-time-mum Hazel’s pouch in recent weeks.
“When he was first born he was pink, hairless and tiny,” koala keeper Kristy Eriksen said.
“We watched him make his way from the birth canal to the pouch completely unaided, relying on his already well-developed senses of smell and touch and an innate sense of direction.”
Soon he will be riding on mum’s back and will eventually graduate to climbing trees on his own.
He’s on display in the Koala Forest exhibit.
