We called her Remi. Wallaroos are one of the lesser known species of macropod in Australia and they differ to the more commonly known Eastern Grey kangaroos by being slightly smaller and stockier in build, having softer fur and fluffier ears - a bit like the ‘lamby’s ear’ plant (stachys byzantina) that you may know. So, as their name suggests, they appear as a cross between a wallaby and a kangaroo. The females have lighter grey fur and the males a very dark, almost black fur.
Now the fact that a vet incorrectly identified Remi shows that either vets are run off their feet or that, like many of us, Australians have had a limited education (or interest?) shown for our own native animals.
So, Remi quickly learnt to drink from a bottle and became more secure in her new home - in a ‘roo bag’, hanging from a stand in her carers loungeroom. Remi came to know her human’s voices and noises as safe, she began to poke out her head to feel the morning sunshine or watch the birds outside, and then gradually to munch on hay/pellets/bark/bottle brush and other native browse that was put just outside her bag. When given time out of her bag to stretch her legs, it became clear that there was one thing that Remi loved more than anything else. Tissues. Well, tissues and toilet paper. She would hop to the box that sat on the coffee table (used by carers for toileting - just as her mother would have been doing for her when in the pouch to keep her pouch clean and tidy) and pluck a tissue from the box with her mouth. She would take it into her paws and hold it while munching… hang on…munching? Should we let a Wallaroo eat a tissue? But no, she did not eat it. She simply chewed it around, spat it out and chewed it again, until she had made a perfect little ball. Just how she wanted. Then off she would hop to get a new tissue and start all over again! She was even found pulling toilet paper from the roll in the bathroom, ripping it off and creating more little ‘spit balls’ and leaving them about the house. Then she would hop to her carer and follow behind her, back and up and around, venturing off over the couch before coming back to behind her human mum’s legs. Then her human mum would open the bag and in she would flip, bottom in the air, legs dangling out, until she had wriggled around enough to be back snug inside the hand-made pouch.
And so it went for many months until finally (and sadly for the her human mum, but a great part of the job) she was ready to go to pre-release. Fortunately she had another human mum here with just as much experience and care to give, but she also had a Wallaroo friend - Rastus, whom she could become buddies with while she integrated with the pre-release mob of other macropods. She continued to have her bottles but now she also had room to roam, to start to graze and could be monitored for disease and wellbeing. Now it is winter, almost 8 months later. Remi will soon be set free with her buddy to roam beyond the fence of her pre-release, not far from the area that she was found. The sleepless nights, milk feeds, toileting, washing and reassuring will all be worth it, as another animal that would have otherwise suffered, can return to the bush to live freely and hopefully breed her own mob one day.
Remi was such a cheeky delight to have in our care. I can only hope that others realise when they see her or those like her out there hopping about the landscape that macropods are thinking, feeling, personality-filled individuals that are worthy of the right to live freely in the wild and be protected.
Shop ethically. Learn with purpose. Support local wildlife carers making a real difference across Australia. Every course, every purchase, every act of kindness helps protect native animals and empower the people who care for them.