Meet the adorable albino joey that has been born at a zoo in Germany to a white kangaroo called Snowflake.
The heartwarming footage shows the joey, with white fur and red eyes, smuggling up in his mother’s pouch at the Zoo Hoyerswerda in Saxony.
Newsflash obtained a statement from Zoo Hoyerswerda saying: “The white Bennett’s kangaroo female Snowflake has given birth for the first time. Just like the mother, the joey also has snow-white fur.”
Ronny Haeusler, a zookeeper at Hoyerswerda Zoo, said: “The offspring is about eight months old, and it is the first one for the one-and-a-half-year-old Bennett’s kangaroo female.
“It has only been around the beginning of January that it became apparent that Snowflake’s joey also has white fur.”
The statement said: “Until then, the joey occasionally stuck its head out of the pouch, but it was still naked and pink. Even now, it is still quite sleepy and enjoys the time in mama’s pouch.”
Haeusler said: “It won’t be long before the joey outgrows the pouch. Then we can also check the joey’s gender,” Ronny Häusler continues.
The statement said: “In May of last year, the kangaroo female Snowflake came to the Lausitzer Seenland from the Zoo Tábor in the Czech Republic. She quickly and easily integrated into the group and got used to living with the emu female Hilde.
“With the joey, there are currently seven kangaroos living in the walk-in enclosure at Hoyerswerda Zoo.”
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The statement also said: “Bennett’s kangaroos, also known as red-necked wallabies, originate from southeastern Australia and Tasmania. They owe their name to the reddish fur in the neck and shoulder area.
“The social behaviour of Bennett’s kangaroos is not very pronounced. They either live alone or in small groups. Grasses and herbs are the main food source for this small kangaroo species. If the living conditions are currently unfavourable for offspring, kangaroos can delay birth and postpone it to better times.
“They are also able to raise and nurse two offspring of different ages. Each joey then has its own teat, from which milk with different compositions can be given.”
The zoo explained: “Albinism is a rare phenomenon in the animal kingdom, where the individuals lack colour pigments. Due to their conspicuousness, they are often the target of potential predators.
“On Bruny Island in southern Tasmania, there is the largest population of white Bennett’s kangaroos. Their number is estimated at 200 animals. On the island, kangaroos have no natural predators, so the mutation can be passed on from generation to generation.”
Bennett’s tree-kangaroo (Dendrolagus bennettianus) is a large tree-kangaroo found in Australia. It is listed as near-threatened on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN’s) Red List of Threatened Species.
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