When Tracey Mckendry saw a wallaby bounding towards her, she was in awe. It was such a cool moment to witness … until something fell out of the marsupial’s pouch. The mama kept going, not realizing she was leaving her baby behind.
With her mom already far off in the distance, the first thing the little joey did was hop over to Mckendry. Soon, though, driven by fear, she hopped away to hide.
Mckendry immediately started searching for the baby wallaby, hoping she could help. When she was unable to locate her, she called Mosswood Wildlife. Their rescue team rushed over and, after an hour of searching, was able to find and safely secure the scared joey.
The rescue team had volunteers monitor the area for the next 48 hours in case the mama wallaby came back, but she was never spotted. Instead, the baby was officially admitted into their care.
“[She was in] surprisingly good condition, no obvious abrasions or marks,” Mosswood Wildlife told The Dodo. “Just very scared. She is much more relaxed now and buddied up with a similar-sized wallaby joey, so she has immediate companionship.”
Mosswood Wildlife
Sadly, this type of occurrence is not uncommon, but it’s not because wallabies are bad moms. It’s just an unfortunate accident.
“When scared or threatened, they go into flight mode, and the pouch muscles will involuntarily contract, which can result in their joey falling out of the pouch when they are bounding away at speed, fleeing,” Mosswood Wildlife said. “This very sad involuntary action is what left the pair separated.”
Luckily, everyone cared enough to make sure the joey made it to safety, and now she’s thriving at Mosswood Wildlife. She and her new friend will be released back into the wild together once they’re old enough.
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