Overview
- Chester Zoo confirmed the joey is healthy and male after releasing rare inside-the-pouch images captured between October and December.
- Scientists timed the parents’ pairing using hormone monitoring in the zoo’s on-site laboratory, described as the only facility of its kind at a European zoo.
- Born to Kitawa and Kayjo under a European conservation breeding programme, the youngster now weighs 1.85 kg after starting life no bigger than a jellybean.
- This is only the second successful breeding of the species at Chester Zoo, with just two UK zoos currently caring for Goodfellow’s tree kangaroos.
- The species is endemic to Papua New Guinea and classed as endangered due to hunting and habitat loss, and the monitoring data will inform wider conservation breeding efforts.