Tiny Kangaroos...
25/10/2018
Everyone is familiar with Kangaroos and Wallabies, but a group of tiny relatives are less well known. Two kinds of these 'mini-kangaroos' are now here at Hamerton Zoo Park. The Long-nosed Potoroo has been kept and bred here for some years, and we were fortunate to obtain a group of new animals to invigorate our breeding programme from Queensland back in March. These are the first to come to Europe for many years, and the first joey has been seen out of the pouch just this week.
New arrivals at the Park are six Rufous Bettongs two males and four females, just arrived from Australia. Despite their name these little animals are a silvery grey in colour with whitish tummies. They are not often seen in Zoos, and our new Bettongs are the only ones in Europe, forming part of our unique collection of Australian animals.
Both kinds of 'mini-kangaroo' are supposed to be nocturnal, but our Potoroos are often seen out in the daytime; and we hope the Bettongs will prove to be the same. For the moment the new animals are being settled in off show, and will be moved into the main Zoo as part of our continuous development programme.
The Bettongs arrived with our new Possums, and another 3 Northern Swamp Wallabies, to expand our group, which we are told is probably the only one outside Australia.