Celebrating Christmas tree-kangaroo style
A captive Goodfellow's tree kangaroo enjoys a Christmas-tree-shaped snack (Photo: Taronga Zoo).
THIS IS A SHAMELESS excuse for us to post some cute pictures of tree kangaroos!
Sydney's Taronga Zoo had a special Christmas feeding time for its
animals yesterday - including bears, meerkats and chimps - with
festive-themed gifts designed to test their foraging abilities.
But easily the stars of the show were a pair of Goodfellow's tree kangaroos (
Dendrolagus goodfellowi), a little-known but fascinating native species of marsupial.
"The zoo's tree kangaroos, Parum and Salsa, bounded out of their night dens to discover Santa sacks filled with treats including watermelon pieces cut in the shape of Christmas trees...definitely one of their favourite foods" says Taronga Zoo spokesperson Ben Gibson. "The pair quickly grabbed the fruit and also enjoyed a snack of hibiscus flowers." Parum is an eight-year-old male, while Salsa is a six-year-old female.
Rainforest-living members of the kangaroo and wallaby family, these amazingly adapted animals - there are 12 species of tree kangaroo in total - are found in the forests of New Guinea and Queensland's Cape York.
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