Twycross Zoo: New babies for February Half Term (From Worcester News)

Twycross Zoo: New babies for February Half Term

12:35pm Monday 15th February 2010 in

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THERE are two cute arrivals for visitors to see this February half term at Twycross Zoo, a red necked wallaby sitting pretty in his mothers pouch and a tiny buff coloured White Cheeked gibbon.

It has been twenty years since Twycross Zoo last held wallabies at the Zoo. The breeding pair that we have today came from Exmoor Wildlife Park on 27th July 2009. Mother Pebbles, age 12 years and father Bambam, age 6 years have settled extremely well into their new home at Pets at Twycross. The little joey is playing peek a boo with his keepers popping his head out of the pouch now and again to see what is happening.

The Red-necked Wallaby, Macropus rufogriseus, is also known as Bennett's Wallaby and is a marsupial which lives mostly in Australia. It is often confused for its close relative the kangaroo. They do look similar, but wallabies are smaller. The size of the wallabies feet are often 10 inches or less, where as a kangaroo's are much larger. The Red-necked Wallaby is the largest of the wallaby species and they can grow to be on average, 2 ½ to 3 feet tall and weigh 25 to 60 pounds. They reach their full size when they are five years old and on average there lifespan is approximately 15 years. When you visit Pets at Twycross notice the greyish brown fur and the red markings on their neck and shoulders, you will also see that their paws and nose are black.

In the gibbon enclosure you will see Kampuchea, a very protective mother, holding her baby whilst Earl is keeping a vigilant eye on his family. There are only in the region of 50 White-cheeked gibbons in captivity in Europe so the arrival of the youngster was an important addition to the European breeding population.

At the moment the baby is a buff orange colour. By the time the baby is 2 – 3 years old the colour will begin to start to change to the jet black colour if it is a boy and he will follow his father with the characteristic white cheeks that gives the species their name.

White-cheeked gibbons come from the rain forests of South East Asia, Thailand and China and feed on a large variety of fruits, leaves and flowers. They are an endangered species which have suffered from habitat destruction as a direct result of the logging industry as well as poaching for the illegal animal trade.

We now offer keeper for the day. Did you know you can feed the Bat-eared Foxes, Otters, Meerkats, Elephants and Giraffes? Why not book an encounter for a present. See our website for more details twycrosszoo.org