See photos: Baby kangaroo born at Bronx zoo makes public debut

NEW YORK (AP) — The second child of a tree-dwelling kangaroo made its public debut this week in New York, poking its pink head head out of its mother’s furry white pouch.

The tiny Matschie’s tree kangaroo, or Dendrolagus matschiei, was born in December and is the second born to the identical mom since 2022. It additionally was the third of its variety born on the Bronx Zoo since 2008.

The tree kangaroo species solely gestate for about six weeks earlier than they’re born and instantly crawl into their marsupial mothers’ pouches, the zoo mentioned in an announcement. It takes round seven months for the younger to start out peeking out of the pouch.

There are solely round 2,500 tree kangaroos within the wild and 42 in captivity, the zoo mentioned. In an announcement Friday, a Bronx Zoo spokesperson mentioned that the kangaroo’s delivery was important for the community of zoos that goals to protect genetic variety amongst endangered animals.

“It’s a small inhabitants and due to that births are usually not quite common,” mentioned Jessica Moody, curator of primates and small mammals on the Bronx Zoo. “So it’s a uncommon and thrilling occasion,” including that child tree kangaroos are “presumably one of many cutest animals to have ever lived. They appear to be stuffed animals, it’s superb.”

The tree kangaroos are native to the Huon Peninsula in Papua New Guinea, the place they’re threatened by human actions comparable to habitat destruction and searching, the assertion mentioned. They dwell primarily in timber and are smaller than Australia’s better-known pink kangaroo. An grownup tree kangaroo weighs between 20 and 25 kilos (9–11 kilograms). The joeys are concerning the dimension of a human thumb when they’re born, however develop to so long as 30 inches (76 centimeters).

Wildlife restoration applications usually lean on zoos for genetic variety. For instance, wolves reintroduced to the wild are usually given zoo-born pups to lift, lowering the danger of inbreeding whereas increasing wild populations.