A brush-tailed rock wallaby joey hand-raised by conservation organisation, Aussie Ark is about to take his next step towards independence by relocating him to their Barrington Tops facility and the care of wildlife ranger, Adam Mowbray.
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The joey, who is named Rocket, is now 10 months old and has been hand-raised since April by operations manager Dean Reid.
Until now Rocket has gone everywhere with Mr Reid including overnight at Mr Reid's house at Moonan Flat about one hour's drive from the Ark. But Rocket has now outgrown this lifestyle, literally.
"Rocket is too big for his playpen and way too big to be jumping around my house," Mr Reid said.
"He also needs to acclimatise to the cooler, higher altitude conditions of the Barrington Tops where he will live in the future, so we're transitioning him up the mountain, closer to the Ark."
To facilitate this transition, Mr Reid has handed over care of the joey to Mr Mowbray who lives on site whilst working his contract.
"It's exciting. This is my first experience hand-raising a little endangered marsupial," Mr Mowbray said.
"To be able to build this bond, this connection, is an absolute privilege."
Mr Mowbray is learning the ropes from Mr Reid, who has years of experience hand-raising animals. Rocket now requires just two bottle-feeds per day, and Mr Reid watched on as Mr Mowbray fed Rocket for the very first time. It marked the end of Mr Reid's care of the joey, which was emotional.
"It's a sad moment for me but also an amazing moment for Rocket," Mr Reid said.
"It's his next step towards independence and he's doing really well. I'm super proud of him and I'm super proud of myself."
Over the next month Rocket will be weaned off both milk and human contact as he prepares to enter Aussie Ark's breeding program. This will involve a triumphant release into one of the facility's new state-of-the-art enclosures, and his first girlfriend.
For more information or to donate to help Aussie Ark, go to: aussieark.org.au.
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