Image: Paul Fahy / Taronga Zoo
The Taronga Zoo staff is thrilled that two joeys of the endangered brush-tailed rock wallaby species have recently emerged from their mothers' pouches. Wallaby mama Ruby is carrying a joey, and most recently, mother Mica's pouch has proven home to a female joey. Says keeper Tony Britt-Lewis,
“She’s still quite shy, but we’re starting to see her little face more and more. Mica likes to find a nice spot to rest in the sun and the joey will often pop its head out to look around.”
Brush tailed rock wallabies are now listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Tragically, population of the species has declined by up to 97% in the last 130 years due to hunting by human and animal predators, competition from introduced species, loss of habitat and diseases reducing the quality of their overall genetic health.
See a collection of wonderful joey photos and read more about brush-tailed rock wallabies at Zooborns.