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WATCH: Isle Of Wight's Tapnell Farm Welcomes New Addition To Wallaby Family

The Isle of Wight's Tapnell Farm has welcomed a new addition to its family of wallabies.

Resident Bennett's Wallaby Hermione has finally shown her joey – the first on the farm for four years.

The young wallaby, whose gender is currently unknown, is approximately four months old.

During that time, it has tucked up in Hermione’s pouch attached to a teat which acts as an umbilical cord.

At this stage, they're not ready to leave their mum's pouch so only pop their heads out.

Lucy Cousins, Head Keeper at Tapnell Farm Park, said:

"The keepers and I are super excited to announce the first joey in 4 years at Tapnell Farm Park. This has brought us a lot of joy after a trying year or two; it’s lovely to have something more positive to focus on.

"Being animal keepers, we become very attached to our animals as if they are family. We cannot wait to find out the gender and give little joey a special name this summer – or maybe you could help us?!"

A competition to name little joey will be posted on Facebook nearer the summer.

At around 9-10 months, the joey will fully leave the pouch, however it will still be able to stick its head inside the pouch and drink milk until it’s around two years old.

Hermione’s dad, Deuce, proud grandad to little joey, is one of the wallabies rehomed by Tapnell Farm Park when Seaview Wildlife Park closed.

There are eight adult wallabies at Tapnell Farm Park, plus little joey and another in Coco the wallaby’s pouch. Hermione was born here and Darwin, little joey’s dad, joined the mob in April 2021 from the Peak District.

To find out more about Tapnell Farm Park visit, here.

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