Our first Bennett’s Wallaby Joey of 2011 (affectionately known as ‘Peanut’ amongst the Animal Care Team!) ventured out from his mother’s pouch into the warm Spring sunshine at lunchtime today! The image on the left shows Peanut sniffing on a piece of banana whilst still in the pouch.
From the age of about 4 months Joey’s are still suckling but start to nibble grass whilst hanging out of the pouch; they pop out every now and again to stretch their legs but aren’t yet brave enough to venture too far from Mum!
In the image on the right it’s almost as though Peanut is saying: “Okay, don’t worry Mum, here I go” – moments later he leapt from the pouch! As this was his first exploration onto ‘terra firma’ Peanut was a bit wobbly – but he’ll be leaping around with strength and confidence in no time!
And here he is! Peanut out of pouch! Our first Wallaby Joey of 2011!
He’s a funny little thing at this age, but he’ll start to fill out and become more sturdy in the weeks ahead – with muscle-building hops in Wallaby Walkabout and a good combination of his mother’s milk supplemented with grass, vegetables and fruit.
Oops! Peanut didn’t judge the re-entry into Mum’s pouch quite right … resulting in his being upside down and the wrong the way round on the grass - half in and half out - but not looking the least perturbed about it!
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