The Joey Rescue Center

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While I was making my way from Adelaide to Alice Springs, I met a Brit who told me about a joey rescue center in Alice where you got to hold baby kangaroos. This guy's voice and face changed as he described his visit, kind of like a little girl face's when she's holding a kitten. I had very limited time in Alice Springs but the rescue center became a priority. I got there in the evening after the center closed, left the next day for a three day camping trip, and flew back to Sydney around 11 A.M. the moring after I got back to Alice from the camping trip. I figured I had about an hour for the joeys befor I had to get a cab to the airport.

I got to the center about 15 minutes before it opened in case it opened early. As anyone who knows me knows, getting somewhere early is quitge and accomplishment for me. I paced around and checked with the clerk in the store next door to find out if the place usually opened on time. The center ended opening 10 minutes late, which did cut into my joey cuddling time. But after I got the first joey in my arms it didn't matter. The little guy I was holding was about the size of and adult cat and was held in a cloth pouch on its back like a baby (the human kind). I was told that he just learned to stand but couldn't hop yet. He was adorable with his front and back paws and tail sticking out. When he got anxious or cold, he would stick his head under his paws and hid in his "pouch."

The joeys are rescued from kangaroos found dead on the road after being hit by cars within a 50 kilometer range of Alice Springs. Volunteers get a call about the location of a hit kangaroo and someone checks the pouch (if there is a pouch) for a viable joey. Apparently, kangaroos breed like rabbits. At any given time, a kangaroo can be pregnant, have a fetus like baby attached to her in the pouch, and a joey that goes in and out of the pouch. And they can breed at any time. So it is likey there will be a joey in the pouch if the kangaroo has one.

The rescued joeys are brought back to the center where they are given a cloth pouch that volunteers carry against their chests for about three months. All time. In front of the TV, out to the store, to bed, at work, everywhere. Luckily the volunteer can always ask someone to hold his/her pouch for a bit. The joeys are given joey formula that comes in a can and, I am guessing, is only available in Australia. Once they get older, they start spending more and more time out of the pouch until they are kicked out of it. I'm told they get very grumpy for a while after they get banned from the pouch. Eventually, they are transferred to a large enclosed area for three months with no contact with humans. Then they are released into the wild in group and are on their way becoming more road kill as part of the circle of life.

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Photos

Awwww
Isn't he cute

The joey from another angle
This is for the ones who keep nagging for me to put a pic of myself up.

A joey in repose