SALISBURY — The Salisbury Zoo has announced the arrival of a baby wallaby — also known as a joey — in its Discover Australia Exhibit.
Over the winter, keepers noticed changes with one of the zoo’s female wallabies. Her pouch appeared to be getting larger and at times they thought they could detect movement. Zoo staff were hopeful that a joey had been born and that it was developing in mom’s pouch. Eventually they were rewarded with the sight of a small head peaking out of mom’s pouch. T
The joey’s appearance would seem to indicate that it was born around the first of November. Since mid-April it has been making short appearances outside of its mother’s pouch, allowing a few lucky guests to catch a glimpse of the new joey. As it grows it will spend more time outside and visible to guests.
Once the joey starts spending more time outside of its mother’s pouch, zookeepers will be able to determine its sex.
Wallabies are a close cousin to the kangaroo and are found in Australia and surrounding islands. They spend the first few months of their lives developing in their mother’s pouch, only coming out when they have grown enough to fend for themselves.
The arrival of the baby wallaby comes as the zoo is working to complete the final phase of the ‘Discover Australia’ exhibit generously sponsored by the Arthur W. Perdue Foundation and Richard A. Henson Foundation. The zoo invites everyone to come see both the new joey and the progress on the new exhibit.