A southern hairy-nosed wombat joey has finally emerged from her mother's pouch, 11 months after being born at Sydney's Taronga Zoo.
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The female joey named Wanyi was born to mother Jedda and father, Noojee as part of the zoo's breeding program, Australian Fauna Keeper Bec Russell-Cook said.
"It has been so intriguing to watch Jedda as a mum and compare her mothering techniques to our other breeding wombats here at Taronga," she said in a statement on Wednesday.
"Unlike our other female wombats, she is quite a protective mother and was carrying Wanyi around in her pouch a lot longer than our previous wombat mothers, to the point where Wanyi didn't quite fit in her pouch anymore and her legs were hanging out!"
The joey normally begins to start venturing from the pouch at around seven months, however Wanyi was quite a 'late bloomer' and keepers only caught quick glimpses of her up until she was about nine months of age.
Southern hairy-nosed wombats are classified as near threatened by the IUCN Red List as the species numbers continue to decline in the wild.
Australian Associated Press
