Rare kangaroo birth ‘major step for species survival’

The birth of a rare tree kangaroo joey at Chester Zoo is a “major milestone” for the threatened species, conservationists have said.

The male Goodfellow’s tree kangaroo joey was born at the zoo as part of an international breeding programme.

Unlike its famous Australian counterpart the species live in trees but are under threat in the wild.

“Every birth like this is incredibly important,” David White from Chester Zoo said, adding that it was “securing a future for this magnificent species”.

The joey was born to mother Kitawa and father Kayjo after hormone monitoring at the zoo’s on-site science laboratory.

This is the second time experts have bred the species at the zoo.

The first joey was born as part of a breeding programme at the zoo in 2023.

“Goodfellow’s tree kangaroos don’t breed quickly, as a joey is a huge energy investment for the mother,” White said.

“This is one of the reasons they are disappearing from the forests of Papua New Guinea – they just can’t keep up with numbers being lost to hunting and deforestation.”

He said the birth was “a real team effort” by zookeepers, vets and scientists, who monitored hormone levels and behavioural changes to understand the best times of year to introduce the parents.

“Everything we’ve learned so far will help conservationists around the world in securing a future for this magnificent species,” White added.

The joey, which now weighs 1.85kg (approx 4lbs), was no bigger than a jellybean at birth and has spent the first months of its life developing inside Kitawa’s pouch.

“With so little known about tree kangaroos, Kitawa’s joey is a particularly special arrival, and represents a major step forward in understanding and protecting this remarkable species from extinction,” Matthew Lloyd, a tree kangaroo expert at the zoo, said.