Rare tree kangaroo species has twins at Neb. zoo

Nebraska zookeepers are seeing double and they're thrilled about it, with the birth of twins to a rare species of tree kangaroo.

Twin joeys were born last month at the Lincoln Children's Zoo to Matschie's tree kangaroos Milla and her mate Noru. They were found in Milla's pouch last month, and count as two of the four documented Matschie's tree kangaroo births last year.

Kansas City Zoo zookeeper Jacque Blessington says only about 50 of the animals exist in North America. In the wild, they live in the rain forest in northeastern Papua New Guinea.

She says the babies were likely the size of a lima bean at birth.

They are expected to begin poking out their heads or feet as early as May.

Source: Boston.com

AP Photo/ Lincoln Children's Zoo

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peek-a-boo!

(via ZooBorns)

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An unusual friendship

The baby kangaroo should have not survived the road accident that claimed its mother...but then along came Rex the wonder dog.


The 10-year-old dog - a cross between a German shorthaired and wirehaired pointer - and the four-month-old joey are now friends.

Source: Daily Mail

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and kangaroos hopping away

Danish police have appealed for public help to track down a kangaroo that escaped from its owner's home in Copenhagen.

Two of the fleet-footed native Australian marsupials escaped from their owner's residence in the Copenhagen neighborhood of Amager on Monday.

One found its own way home today but the second remains on the loose, police said.

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Indonesia returns rare kangaroos to wild

Indonesia is returning 17 rare pygmy kangaroos to the Papuan rain forest after rescuing and acquiring them in recent years from illegal traders and private zoos, officials said Monday. It is unknown how many of the mammals, which can grow up to three-feet long and weigh 25 pounds, still survive in the wild.

The animals being released were born to six males and females cared for by the Cikananga Animal Rescue Center on West Java where they have been reared to survive in their natural habitat, said spokesman Resit Sozer.

They are to be released on Tuesday into the forest, where they will face predators such as giant pythons and local poachers who eat their meat or sell their hides.

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Australia looks to cut kangaroo numbers

Authorities said Monday they want to shoot more than 3,000 kangaroos on the fringes of Australia's capital, noting the animals were growing in population and eating through the grassy habitats of endangered species.

The Defense Department wants to hire professional shooters to cull the kangaroos at two of its properties on the outskirts of Canberra, where some areas have as many as 1,100 kangaroos per square mile — the densest kangaroo population ever measured in the region.

Canberra's local government is expected to decide this week whether to approve the cull, government spokeswoman Yersheena Nichols said.

Under the plan, 3,200 of the common eastern gray kangaroos, which can grow as big as a man, will be shot by July.

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Cute Baby Kangaroo

(via)

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