The San Diego Zoo Safari Park is celebrating a conservation milestone with the birth of an endangered Matschie’s tree kangaroo. The female joey, named Kikori, was born to mother Arona and father Bek, at the end of August 2022 at the Safari Park’s Walkabout Australia. The baby Matschie’s tree kangaroo is only emerging now, however as they are about the size of a jellybean at birth, after a 45-day gestation period, then the joey crawls into its mother’s pouch, where it attaches to a nipple and begins to develop as it gains nourishment. The joey remains in the pouch until around 6 months of age, when it becomes considerably more active—and movement is often seen outside the pouch. Arona’s joey is now 9 months old, and recently started climbing out of the pouch. She will wean her joey when the youngster is about a year old, but the joey will stay close to mum for about a year and a half. Matschie’s tree kangaroos are native to one tiny part of the world—Papua New Guinea and the Huon Peninsula—and they are sometimes found in the rainforests of Australia. They are listed as Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. It is estimated that there are fewer than 2,500 adult Matschie’s tree kangaroos are left in their native habitats.
