![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Goodfellows-tree-kangaroo-baby-joey-SWNS-Chester-Zoo.jpg\")
Goodfellow\u2019s tree kangaroo joey \u2013 SWNS \/ Chester Zoo<\/p>\n Goodfellow\u2019s tree kangaroo joey \u2013 SWNS \/ Chester Zoo<\/p>\n
Amazing \u201cpouch cam\u201d images provide a rare glimpse into the hidden world of an endangered baby kangaroo after he was born the size of a jellybean at a UK zoo.<\/p>\n
Experts say the special arrival marks a major conservation milestone for one of the world\u2019s most threatened marsupials\u2014the endangered Goodfellow\u2019s tree kangaroo.<\/p>\n
Keepers at the Chester Zoo monitored the pouch-cam between October and December watching the joey\u2019s development inside the kangaroo\u2019s pouch, allowing them to identify it as a healthy male.<\/p>\n
The joey arrived to its parents Kitawa and Kayjo, thanks to an international conservation breeding program aimed at ensuring the future survival of the species.<\/p>\n
The zoo says the pouch footage<\/a> (which may be too graphic for some) and the team\u2019s findings are expected to provide valuable insight for similar initiatives worldwide.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen people think of kangaroos, they rarely imagine small, fluffy animals living high in the treetops,\u201d said Matthew Lloyd, the tree kangaroo expert at the zoo.<\/p>\n \u201cWith so little known about tree kangaroos, Kitawa\u2019s joey is a particularly special arrival, and represents a major step forward in understanding and protecting this remarkable species.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBeing able to carefully track this joey\u2019s development inside the pouch using tiny cameras wasn\u2019t possible only a few years ago, and it\u2019s already helped us learn more crucial information about the early stages of life inside the pouch\u2014knowledge that can now support, and hopefully speed up, our conservation breeding efforts globally.\u201d<\/p>\n The zoo further captured the first few months of the joey, which now weighs 4 pounds (1.85kg), using tiny endoscopic cameras, offering a rare and fascinating insight into the species.<\/p>\n MORE TECH HELP FOR BABY JOEYS<\/strong>: Old Incubators Help Save Orphaned Kangaroos by Imitating Their Mother\u2019s Pouch<\/a><\/p>\n It\u2019s just the second time experts have bred the species at the Chester Zoo, with only two zoos in the UK currently caring for the rare animals.<\/p>\n Scientists helped pinpoint the best time for the two kangaroos to be paired by using hormone monitoring, carried out in the zoo\u2019s on-site science laboratory, \u201cEvery birth like this is incredibly important,\u201d said David White, team manager at Chester Zoo. \u201cIt\u2019s been a real team effort. Everything we\u2019ve learned so far will help conservationists around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n What Makes Tree Kangaroos Special<\/p>\n Goodfellow\u2019s tree kangaroo (Dendrolagus goodfellowi) is native to the forests of Papua New Guinea, an island nation north of Australia<\/p>\n Unlike many other kangaroo species, they are mostly solitary animals, spending much of their time resting or sleeping in trees for up to 16 hours a day\u2014but they often sleep head-down, a position that helps rain run off their fur.<\/p>\n MORE KANGAROO GOOD NEWS:<\/strong> Their joeys weigh just 2\u20133 grams at birth (about the size of a jellybean). The Forest loss and degradation caused by human activity, and a slow reproduction rate, makes populations particularly vulnerable to decline.<\/p>\n Only around 20-25 zoos are caring for or breeding Goodfellow\u2019s tree kangaroos worldwide, usually a single pair, to maintain genetic diversity in a global effort to help the adorable species endure.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t have a name for the little one just yet, but our choice will be influenced by communities in Papua New Guinea who live alongside tree kangaroos and are now part of efforts to protect their forest homes.\u201d<\/p>\n SHARE THE INCREDIBLE SPECIES With Animal Lovers on Social Media\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Goodfellow\u2019s tree kangaroo joey \u2013 SWNS \/ Chester Zoo Amazing \u201cpouch cam\u201d images provide a rare glimpse into…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":291497,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[273],"tags":[100,44329,18,8459,4507,19,17,95042,432,133,1294,461,25759],"class_list":{"0":"post-291496","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-animals","9":"tag-babies","10":"tag-eire","11":"tag-endangered-species","12":"tag-england","13":"tag-ie","14":"tag-ireland","15":"tag-papua-new-guinea","16":"tag-photography","17":"tag-science","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-wildlife","20":"tag-zoos"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115918586748971893","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=291496"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291496\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/291497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=291496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=291496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=291496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Goodfellows-tree-kangaroo-with-baby-joey-SWNS-Chester-Zoo.jpg\")
Goodfellow\u2019s tree kangaroo with baby joey \u2013 SWNS \/ Chester Zoo<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Goodfellows-tree-kangaroo-baby-joey-via-pouch-cam-SWNS-Chester-Zoo.jpg\")
Baby Goodfellow\u2019s tree kangaroo via pouch cam \u2013 SWNS \/ Chester Zoo<\/p>\n
the only facility of its kind at a zoo in Europe.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Goodfellows-tree-kangaroo-SWNS-Chester-Zoo.jpg\")
Goodfellow\u2019s tree kangaroo \u2013 SWNS \/ Chester Zoo<\/p>\n
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newborns make a remarkable climb from the mother\u2019s belly into the pouch shortly after birth\u2014and remain there, suckling and developing, for around seven months before venturing out.<\/p>\n