Old Incubators Help Save Orphaned Kangaroos by Imitating Their Mother’s Pouch
When an Australian nurse working at a hospital with outdated incubators happened upon a kangaroo rescue center, she realized she could help save lives.
Once used to help save premature human babies, the incubators are now mimicking the conditions of a mother kangarooâs pouch, where her joey will live for the first 8 months of its life.
Dozens of orphaned joeys and pinkies, or marsupial pups who havenât opened their eyes yet, are brought into Kununurra Kangaroo Rescue Haven in East Kimberly, Australia, every year.
Because they are the largest terrestrial animal in Australia, an adult kangaroo rarely has to worry about predators and their populations can balloon quite dramatically. This, unfortunately, renders them much like whitetail deer in the USâat extreme risk of becoming roadkill.
Mandy Watson, director of the Kununurra Haven, has saved hundreds of orphaned joeys from their moms who have been hunted or struck by vehicles. Young, pinky joeys can struggle to survive without the warmth and humidity of their motherâs pouch.
She has seen hundreds of orphans return to the wild, but thousands not make it to adulthood.
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âIn 20 years, weâve released 823 back into the wild. Itâs really hard, especially in the dry season, for us to keep up that constant temperature,â Watson told ABC News Down Under. âThe humidicrib (incubator) is going to be a constant temperature thatâs going to dramatically help [to] save a few more lives.â
The humidicribs were donated by nurse Jane Darlington, a clinical pediatric nurse at the Kununurra District Hospital. The hospital needed to get rid of them as the rapid march of medical technology had seen them become obsolete.
Darlington got the idea while shopping in town. She saw a volunteer from the rescue center helping to raise awareness of their work by walking around in a wallaby costume, holding one of their orphaned joeys.
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âIt was very cute and caught my attention,â Darlington remembered. âIâm very pleased weâve been able to give [the incubator] to somebody [who will] use it.â
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