Quantcast
ZME Science
  • CoronavirusNEW
  • News
  • Environment
    • Climate
    • Animals
    • Renewable Energy
    • Eco tips
    • Environmental Issues
    • Green Living
  • Health
    • Alternative Medicine
    • Anatomy
    • Diseases
    • Genetics
    • Mind & Brain
    • Nutrition
  • Future
  • Space
  • Feature
    • Feature Post
    • Art
    • Great Pics
    • Design
    • Fossil Friday
    • AstroPicture
    • GeoPicture
    • Did you know?
    • Offbeat
  • More
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Our stance on climate change
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

No Result
View All Result
ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
Home Environment Animals

There’s a sanctuary for orphaned kangaroos in Australia, and it’s awesome

Mihai Andrei by Mihai Andrei
February 1, 2021
in Animals, Feature Post

In 2005 Chris ‘Brolga’ Barns set up a baby kangaroo rescue centre in central Australia’s Alice Springs. The main goal was to help orphaned baby kangaroos, whose parents had been struck by vehicles in Australia. Often Chris would find the orphans at the side of the road still in their mother’s pouch – even if she had been killed.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Kangaroo Sanctuary Alice Springs
Website | Facebook | Donate

“Building a sanctuary has been my goal since founding a baby kangaroo rescue centre in 2005. By that stage I’d found one too many joeys [baby kangaroos] orphaned when traffic on Australia’s roads killed their mothers, and I’d decided something needed to be done,” Chris told The Telegraph in 2014.

ADVERTISEMENT

It took him years of hard work, but finally, in 2009-2011, he managed to open a proper sanctuary, which now hosts 28 kangaroos and a camel. The BBC actually did a series on him and his sanctuary called Kangaroo Dundee.

“The sanctuary finally opened in 2009, but never in my wildest dreams did I expect it to become as well-known as it has through the BBC series Kangaroo Dundee. I’m pretty level-headed about the fame because for me, the animals have always come first.”

His animal-related career began at Pearl Coast Zoo in Broome, Western Australia, where he was a bird keeper. Later he was a zookeeper at Tipperary in the Northern Territory. It was at Pearl Coast Zoo however, when Barns had his first experience with an orphaned joey:

“My first experience with an orphan kangaroo joey was in 1989 when I was a 17 yr old Zookeeper at Pearl Coast Zoo in Western Australia. Her name was Josie Jo – a beautiful Western Grey joey being raised at the zoo staff quarters where I lived. The adventure of having a joey in the house and helping raise her made me realise that all I wanted to do in life was be the best ‘kangaroo mum’.” [source]

Brolga’s next step is to build Central Australia’s first wildlife hospital on the grounds of his Sanctuary. Donations are welcome to help him with his current work and his dream of building a hospital, so if you enjoy his story and want to make a difference for the wild kangaroos in Australia, please consider donating to the cause.

Get more science news like this...

Join the ZME newsletter for amazing science news, features, and exclusive scoops. More than 40,000 subscribers can't be wrong.

   

The Australian government estimates that 34.3 million kangaroos lived in Australia in 2011, but many of the smaller species are rare and endangered. Still, even if kangaroos are not endangered as a whole, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t need help – especially since we are the ones causing their problems.

Sources:

– The Kangaroo Sanctuary Alice Springs
– The Kangaroo Sanctuary Alice Springs on Facebook
– BBC Two: Kangaroo Dundee
– BBC TV Blog: Kangaroo Dundee – Sharing my life
– The Telegraph: My perfect weekend – Chris Barns, kangaroo sanctuary owner

(via) Twisted Sifter

Tags: animal sanctuarykangaroosocial media
Mihai Andrei

Mihai Andrei

Andrei's background is in geophysics, and he's been fascinated by it ever since he was a child. Feeling that there is a gap between scientists and the general audience, he started ZME Science -- and the results are what you see today.

Follow ZME on social media

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Coronavirus
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Feature
  • More

© 2007-2019 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Coronavirus
  • News
  • Environment
    • Climate
    • Animals
    • Renewable Energy
    • Eco tips
    • Environmental Issues
    • Green Living
  • Health
    • Alternative Medicine
    • Anatomy
    • Diseases
    • Genetics
    • Mind & Brain
    • Nutrition
  • Future
  • Space
  • Feature
    • Feature Post
    • Art
    • Great Pics
    • Design
    • Fossil Friday
    • AstroPicture
    • GeoPicture
    • Did you know?
    • Offbeat
  • More
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Our stance on climate change
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2019 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.