It’s joey season which also means it’s time for wallaby pouch-checks. This four-year old wallaby mum was hand-reared by our staff and because of this, she is very calm and comfortable around them. So comfortable in fact, Motus is allowing our carnivore keeper Andy to carefully check on the male joey that is growing inside her pouch.

Motus is laying inside of a hand-made pouch that allows our keepers to health check, take weights, and check on her growing joey while keeping the experience stress-free and enjoyable for her. Our keepers report that our wallabies are often happy to remain inside these pouches for hours!

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This 6-month old will soon be venturing outside the pouch!

Watch as carnivore keeper Andy checks on this growing wallaby joey

Wallaby females are pregnant for only 30-days before they give birth to a very small, perfectly-formed joey that weighs less than 1 gram and is about the size of a bean! This joey will stay attached to his mother’s teat until he has sufficiently grown enough that he can be independent.

This joey has reached 6-months of age which is about the time they will start to become very active in the pouch. Our keepers say he’s just started to poke his head out so they’re expecting to see him start to venture outside pretty soon!