If you are looking for your daily dose of cuteness, then you just found it. Watch this adorable video as a kangaroo baby pokes its head out of its mama's pouch for the first time. The video features a mama and baby tree kangaroo. While they may look different than your typical kangaroo in Australia, these guys are still super cute. Watch as this curious little baby peeks out and observes the world around him.
What Is A Tree Kangaroo?
The tree kangaroo is a macropod that lives in trees. These cuties typically live in tropical rainforests in Australia, New Zealand, and nearby islands. Due to the fact that they live in trees, they look a little different from the kangaroos you are probably used to seeing. Their tails are longer and thicker, to help them balance as they nimbly maneuver through the trees. Also, their nails are longer and more curved, allowing them to hold on to the trees more easily. They are also much smaller than your "regular" kangaroo. A typical kangaroo is between 3 to 8 feet tall and can weigh anywhere between 40 and 200 pounds. Whereas tree kangaroos range from 1.57 to 2.95 long and weigh between 15 and 20 pounds.
Adorable Video Of Kangaroo Baby Poking Out Its Head
This video is so special to witness because baby tree kangaroos actually stay in their mother's pouches longer than any other marsupial. According to AZ Animals, "it lives in the pouch between 246 and 275 days, then it takes between 87 and 240 days for it to be weaned." That is a lot of time living in the safety of mama's pouch. In the video, you can see the little joey's head peek out over the pouch as he begins sniffing the air. These guys have a well-developed sense of smell, so it is likely that this kangaroo baby is trying to get a sense of the world around him. He even licks a nearby leaf! When his mother notices him out and about she bends down and gives him some sniffs and loving. Eventually, he has enough and tucks himself back down into the safety of his mother's pouch.
What Makes This Kangaroo Baby So Special?
Besides the fact that this kangaroo baby just makes an absolutely adorable video, he is special for another reason. This kangaroo baby is of an endangered tree kangaroo species, so this birth is adding more population and hope for the species. This baby is also the second Matschie's tree kangaroo at the Bronx Zoo in New York. We can only hope that his mama, and other tree kangaroos keep reproducing. Not only so that we can see more adorable videos of kangaroo babies, but so that their dwindling numbers can finally start to increase again.
