I’m overcome with joy as the baby kangaroo in my arms stares up at me through big brown eyes. Mushka is one of many joeys here at the Kangaroo Sanctuary in Australia’s Northern Territory, most of which were brought in after being discovered inside the pouches of mothers who had been hit by cars.
The sanctuary, just outside Alice Springs, sits within 188 acres of natural bushland – red dirt, trees and shrubs – that allows its inhabitants to live like they would in the wild, in preparation for being released.
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Shortly after we start our tour with founder Chris Barnes – nicknamed Brolga, a bird in the crane family, due to his 6ft 7in skinny frame – the group is stunned when he picks up a laundry basket full of clothes and pulls out several pillowcase-wrapped joeys. They’re just a few months old, Brolga tells us, and they love this snug environment because it mimics their mother’s pouch – somewhere they’d normally spend the most part of their first year.
As we walk around, we’re able to hold the creatures and feed the other young kangaroos with bottles of milk and grass. Brolga explains visitors are encouraged to handle and bond with the animals so they know what to do if they find an orphaned joey. In the run up to the animals’ release, human contact is reduced to help them transition back to life in the wild.
