Watch the moment adorable rare tree kangaroo joey peers out of mum's pouch at Chester Zoo
Chester Zoo has shared pictures and video of one of its newest arrivals - an adorable tree kangaroo joey.
A rare Goodfellow’s tree kangaroo joey has emerged from his mother’s pouch at Chester Zoo - marking a major conservation milestone for one of the world’s most threatened marsupials.
The newborn male joey arrived to mum, Kitawa, and dad, Kayjo, as part of an international conservation breeding programme that’s ensuring the continued survival of the species.
It’s just the second time experts have bred the species at the conservation zoo, with only two zoos in the UK currently caring for the rare animals.
With the all-clear given, zookeepers say they will soon begin choosing a suitable name for the "special arrival".
The joey, which now weighs 1.85kg but was no bigger than a jellybean at birth, has spent the first months of his life developing inside Kitawa’s pouch.
Experts inserted tiny endoscopic cameras into the pouch to confirm Kitawa’s pregnancy and carefully monitor her joey’s development.
The footage and findings gathered by the 'pouch cam' are expected to provide valuable insight for conservation breeding programmes worldwide.
Matthew Lloyd, a tree kangaroo expert at the zoo, said: “When people think of kangaroos, they rarely imagine small, fluffy animals living high in the treetops. With so little known about tree kangaroos, Kitawa’s joey is a particularly special arrival, and represents a major step forward in understanding and protecting this remarkable species from extinction.
“Being able to carefully track this joey’s development inside the pouch using tiny cameras wasn’t possible only a few years ago, and it’s already helped us learn more crucial information about the early stages of life inside the pouch - knowledge that can now support, and hopefully speed up, our conservation breeding efforts globally.
“We don’t have a name for the little one just yet, but our choice will be influenced by communities in Papua New Guinea who live alongside tree kangaroos and are now part of efforts to protect their forest homes.”
Kitawa can be seen in the zoo’s Islands zone, where visitors may spot the joey popping his head out of her pouch as he becomes more confident.
Tree kangaroos are known for spending long periods resting in trees, often sleeping in a head-down position to help shed rain from their fur in their tropical forest homes.
