Bristol Zoo Welcomes Bouncing Baby Tree Kangaroo

Posted By : The Animal Facts Editorial Team

Date: June 25, 2020 9:14 pm

Photo Credit: Bristol Zoo

The Bristol Zoo in the United Kingdom has welcomed a bouncy new baby goodfellow’s tree kangaroo to their family and in a touching tribute they gave the naming opportunity to the frontline heroes working at Bristol Royal Infirmary.

Doctors, nurses, consultants and other staff working in the accident and emergency decided on the name ‘Kiri’ which is a word for ‘laugh’ used in the tree kangaroos homeland, Papua New Guinea.

Bristol Zoo’s Mammal Team Leader, Alan Toyne, said: “We are delighted that the A&E staff at the BRI agreed to choose the name of our joey and Kiri is a lovely choice.”

Recently the joey has been peeking out of mother, Kitawa’s pouch for the first time and will soon be hopping around the enclosure on its own.“

The joey continues to do really well, getting bigger, stronger and more inquisitive. It won’t be long before he starts leaving the safety of mum’s pouch and exploring by himself. He is starting to eat solid food but he won’t be fully weaned until the end of the year,” added Toyne.

This joey marks an important addition for the captive breeding program for this species which has been threatened by habitat loss and predation by invasive species such as dogs in their native Papua Guinea along with the expansion of palm oil plantations.

It is one of only two goodfellow’s tree kangaroo’s bred in the United Kingdom this year and introduces new genes to the captive breeding through his father who came to Bristol from Perth Zoo in Australia.

Photo Credit: Bristol Zoo

Andy Lockyer, emergency department consultant at the Bristol Royal Infirmary shared the excitement of their team at getting to name the joey, “It’s an incredibly kind and thoughtful gesture from our friends at Bristol Zoo to allow us to name & adopt Kiri.”

“Many of the A&E team are members and supporters of the Zoo and Wild Place Project, so we look forward to visiting Kiri as soon as we get the chance and it’s lovely having a link with such a respected and popular local organization,” continued Andy.

Learn more about the Bristol Zoo on their website – Bristol Zoo

Footage Courtesy Bristol Zoo