Abandoned baby wallaby reared in rucksack at Longleat

A baby wallaby is being hand reared in a rucksack after his mother refused to let him back into her pouch during the snowy weather.

The youngster, thought to be around 30 weeks old, was found abandoned by staff at Longleat Safari Park.

Two keepers now take turns feeding Newt every four hours and carrying him around in a substitute rucksack pouch.

Keeper Gemma Short said: "At first it felt strange carrying this rucksack around but you do get used to it."

Newt is one of a colony of red-necked wallabies at the Wiltshire safari park.

Ms Short said when the youngster was found abandoned by his mother in freezing temperatures, he faced certain death.

"For some reason his mum let him out of her pouch during the cold weather but then refused to let him back in again," she said.

"We kept him under closer observation but when it became clear she had abandoned him we had to step in and hand rear him."

The baby wallaby now requires four-hourly feeds day and night and will need a "surrogate mother" for up to 18 months until he is fully weaned.

"Initially we had to feed him every two hours but now he feeds at four-hourly intervals and he's starting to take solids," said Ms Short.

"But he's a real character and is beginning to venture out on his own again and explore the outside world."

Originally from Tasmania and Eastern Australia, the red-necked wallaby is a hardy species and capable of surviving in the harsh British weather conditions.

There are a number of small groups living wild in Derbyshire and Sussex which originated from animals which escaped from zoos in the 1930s.