Tree Kangaroo Fostered by Wallaby Mother

We’ve seen plenty of nursing mammals take in orphan babies of a different species, but it’s a totally different story with marsupials. Kangaroos and wallabies are born very underdeveloped, and stay in their mother’s pouch for months while nursing and growing. At the Adelaide Zoo, a Goodfellow’s tree kangaroo died while nursing a joey. Zookeepers transferred the baby to the pouch of a a Yellow-foot rock wallaby, a completely different species. That had never been done before, but the joey, named Makaia, survived and thrived with his surrogate wallaby mother.

(YouTube link)

Now he’s a healthy and adorable young kangaroo being spoiled and fostered by zoo staff. -via Metafilter