Peeking out from his rucksack this rare albino wallaby has melted the
hearts of keepers at a British wildlife park.
For full story and pictures:
Aged just six months, Joey the orphaned Bennett’s albino wallaby is
centre of attention at the Seaview Wildlife Encounter on the Isle of
Wight.
Sleeping in a backpack lined with a fleece to simulate his mother’s
pouch, the playful youngster is wowing both keepers and visitors alike.
“Joey is absolutely gorgeous,” says Jules Britton, General Manager at
Seaview.
“He was born in February however on July 4 we discovered that his
mother, Sheila, had passed away from old age.
“Sheila was one of our oldest wallabies – nearly 20 when she died, but
she gave little Joey and gave him an excellent start in life.”
Now one of only two albino wallabies at Seaview, Joey is receiving
special care and attention from the keepers who take it in turns to
feed, play and even take him home.
“The first couple of months are very important in the development of
any infant -especially in taking their mother’s milk,” says Jules.
“Even though they will usually come out of the pouch from about just
under six months to eat some solids, they are still dependant on their
mother’s milk until they are nine months of age.
“So we are doing the supplementary feeding.
“We feed him three times a day through a syringe. In the beginning it
was like force feeding but now he grabs hold of the syringe with his
front paws.
“One of the keepers will take him home each night and he is usually no
trouble at all – though sometimes he may want to start playing at four
in the morning!”
A subspecies of the Red-necked wallaby, Bennett’s wallabies descend
from Tasmania.
Due to his light furr, Joey also has suncream applied to combat the
summer heat wave.
“We have 15 wallabies here at the park and Joey is just one of two
albinos left,” explains Jules.
“Albinos are quite unusual in the wild for many reasons . Firstly they
would show up to predators making them vulnerable as prey.
“But their light fur in warmer climates also makes them susceptible to
skin cancer.
“Even though our climate here in the Isle of Wight does not compare to
that of Tasmania, our keepers slap on factor 50 sun-cream to their
ears, nose and tails.”
Set to be fully introduced to the other wallabies in the coming months,
Joey has become the star attraction at the park.
“We have all fallen in love with him much to our dismay because you
are not supposed to do that,” smiles Jules.
“But you can’t do anything but love him. He has got an independent
streak and he has already got a laid back approach to life.
“Once he is weaned he will be wiened and then fully introduced. He is
with Wally duing the day but everything is going very well.”
Words by Jack Fletcher
Related posts:
- Blondie The Albino Porcupine A rare albino porcupine called Blondie is one of the...
- Meet The Only Bald Gorilla In The World Kadogo the Mountain Gorilla is a one of a kind...
- Orphan Baby Wombats Baby wombats Karina and Riley need to be wrapped...
- Meet The Real Socceroos As World Cup fever sweeps the globe these Down Under...
- Meet Rambo The Miracle Stem Cell Dog Cute Rambo has become the first dog in the...
- Meet The Amazing Swimming Elephant Gliding gracefully beneath the crystal clear waters this Asian bull...
- Dog Becomes Surrogate Mother For Tiny Cubs Zoo keepers in China are employing dogs as surrogate mother’s...
- Sara The Dog That Loves To Swing These hilarious pictures show how Sara the dog loves...