Victorian Brush-tail Rock-wallaby Joey Undergoes Successful Cross Foster Procedure at Adelaide Zoo

On Monday 9 June Waterfall Springs staff Celia Thomson and Karen O'Mara transported the Sanctuary's second born female Victorian Brush-tail Rock-wallaby (VIC BTRW) joey from Waterfall Springs to Adelaide Zoo where it was successfully transferred into the pouch of a surrogate Yellow-footed Rock-wallaby (YFRW) mother.
The female joey was born into the Sanctuary's captive breeding program on May 3 2008.
Weighing just 5.4 gram and measuring approximately 8cm in length, the joey was carried on board the aircraft cabin in a specially made temperature controlled humidy-crib.
Senior Veterinarian for Adelaide Zoo Dr David Schultz performed the highly skilled procedure as part of the accelerated captive breeding technique for the critically endangered VIC BTRW known as cross-fostering.
This technique involves the removal of 14 day old new born joeys from their mother and placing them into the pouch of a surrogate mother of a different but closely related species. The donor mother is then free from the burden of carrying pouch young allowing her to breeding cycle to begin again.
The southern Brush-tail Rock-wallaby is listed as critically endangered of extinction. Less than 20 remain in the wild in Victoria.
Cross fostering trials began in 1997 when cross fostering was determined as the only means possible for re-establishing this species. The official breeding program got underway in 2001.
The cross fostering process adds an additional wallaby to the population every 40 days.
Waterfall Springs aims to produce 8 offspring per year for eventual re-introduction into safe wild habitats in Victoria to aid the massive effort to prevent the extinction of this species.
The surrogate YFRW mother was released back into her enclosure shortly after the procedure. The joey was healthy and suckling well. The final success of the transfer will be known in 8 to 10 weeks as staff eagerly await the first sighting of the joeys head from the pouch.

Contact: Karen O'Mara on 0415 326 762