A woman has been nurturing an orphaned baby kangaroo after saving her from the pouch of her deceased mother.
Tiffany Banton, 33, stumbled upon the mother kangaroo lying on the side of a road after being struck by a vehicle in December 2023, with the joey peeking out of the pouch. Since then, Tiffany and her seven year old daughter Maggie have been looking after the kangaroo.
Tiffany, a mum-of-three hailing from Kangaroo Island, South Australia, revealed: “We named her Star after the road where we found her. She was just nine months old at the time and now she’s 18 months and growing strong.”
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With the assistance of a special formula provided by a vet, the family has been bottle-feeding Star, with Maggie playing a crucial role in caring for the joey. Tiffany shared: “Maggie is very maternal and loves small animals, so she took Star under her wing, always wanting to feed her and look after her.”
Star has also developed a unique bond with the family dog Hazel, and they even share the same bed. Tiffany commented: “They’ve grown up together and their bond is lovely.”
She continued: “Star doesn’t like being alone and will find someone in the house to be with. Either she is on Maggie’s bed or in the the dog’s bed with Hazel. And if she is alone she makes a sound to make sure we come find her.”
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The family faced unique challenges while raising the joey, including toilet training and keeping her warm with an electric blanket to mimic the warmth of a mother’s pouch. Tiffany revealed, “We had to stimulate her by rubbing her bum to help her wee and poop, just like a mother kangaroo would do in the pouch.”
Star is getting bigger and beginning to spend more time in the wild.
Sharing further, Tiffany said: “She stays with us during the day, but at night she goes off into the wild, and eventually she’ll stop coming back.”
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