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At long last she's appeared - the first Goodfellow's tree kangaroo joey born in captivity in more than 20 years at Sydney's Taronga Zoo.Native to Papua New Guinea, the tree kangaroo is classified as endangered due to the loss of its natural habitat.
But a global breeding program hopes to change all that, one joey at a time.
The unnamed baby was born in September last year, but keepers have only just begun seeing her tiny head peeking out from the pouch of her mother, Qwikila.
The first-time mother arrived in Sydney from Belfast Zoo in January 2013.
She joined Taronga's resident male, Parum, and one thing led to another.
Keepers say the joey is a triumph for conservation efforts.
"The keepers were holding their breath when they first found out there was a joey in the pouch," Taronga Zoo's Paul Fahy said on Friday.
"It was very exciting when they started seeing the joey poke its head out."
Taronga Zoo will soon announce a public naming competition for the joey on social media.
Goodfellow's tree kangaroos are mostly brown with golden yellow limbs and a long mottled golden yellow and brown tail. The colours may help them blend in with decaying vines and mosses at the top of trees.
Unlike their grounded cousins, tree kangaroos can walk backwards – an essential skill when negotiating branches – and have specially adapted pads on their feet and hands to help with climbing.
There are 46 Goodfellow's tree kangaroos in the global breeding program of which only 13 are male.
Global zoos are co-ordinating the breeding program and each male is placed with at least two females to optimise breeding success.
The species is named after British zoological collector Walter Goodfellow.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/taronga-zoo--welcomes-endangered-tree-kangaroo-joey-20140314-34r9f.html#ixzz2wGWp7Jut
But a global breeding program hopes to change all that, one joey at a time.
The unnamed baby was born in September last year, but keepers have only just begun seeing her tiny head peeking out from the pouch of her mother, Qwikila.
The first-time mother arrived in Sydney from Belfast Zoo in January 2013.
She joined Taronga's resident male, Parum, and one thing led to another.
Keepers say the joey is a triumph for conservation efforts.
"The keepers were holding their breath when they first found out there was a joey in the pouch," Taronga Zoo's Paul Fahy said on Friday.
"It was very exciting when they started seeing the joey poke its head out."
Taronga Zoo will soon announce a public naming competition for the joey on social media.
Goodfellow's tree kangaroos are mostly brown with golden yellow limbs and a long mottled golden yellow and brown tail. The colours may help them blend in with decaying vines and mosses at the top of trees.
Unlike their grounded cousins, tree kangaroos can walk backwards – an essential skill when negotiating branches – and have specially adapted pads on their feet and hands to help with climbing.
There are 46 Goodfellow's tree kangaroos in the global breeding program of which only 13 are male.
Global zoos are co-ordinating the breeding program and each male is placed with at least two females to optimise breeding success.
The species is named after British zoological collector Walter Goodfellow.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/taronga-zoo--welcomes-endangered-tree-kangaroo-joey-20140314-34r9f.html#ixzz2wGWp7Jut