Kangaroo born for first time in country

Meet Moni.

She is barely six-month-old, yet she hops and follows her mother around on her hind legs in the Gazipur's Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Safari Park.

For the first time a kangaroo has given birth in the country.

“Although the baby kangaroo, or joey, was born in May the park authorities kept the news of the birth, first time in the country, a secret for fear of diseases and security," said Md Sahabuddin, assistant conservator of forests.

“The baby is in good health and has coped with the environment,” he told The Daily Star yesterday. Sahabuddin said they have named her “Moni”.

“Moni's mother gave birth on May 4 and she got out of her pouch towards the end of August,” he said, adding, the baby kangaroo was 3 to 4 centimetres in length at the time of birth and now weighs around 5kg.

Two females and one male of the red kangaroo species were brought to the park from South Africa in 2014, he said.

According to Live Science, kangaroos are marsupials, meaning they give birth to young who are not fully developed.  A newborn joey continues to grow inside the mother's pouch where it gains nourishment from milk and is sheltered and kept warm and protected for 120 to 400 days. Kangaroos are native to Australia, but are adaptable to other climates.