Post by CiKoLa on Apr 24, 2009 5:56:35 GMT -5
AN ADELAIDE company has come to the rescue of a baby kangaroo in Serbia.
Glen Osmond animal nutrition firm Wombaroo has air-freighted an emergency shipment of marsupial milk supplement to the East European country to save a joey whose mother has abandoned her.
Wombaroo company director Samantha Rich said the she was only too happy to help.
"It's quite a touching story," she said.
The six-month-old joey, named Tijana, accidentally fell out of its mother's pouch when she was attacked by an emu at Belgrade Zoo.
The traumatised mother refused to take Tijana back after the attack, leaving the starving joey for dead.
Despite being placed in an incubator and given a milk supplement by hand by zoo staff, her condition continued to degrade. Her plight became news in Serbia as well as across Europe.
Australian ambassador to Serbia, Clare Birgin, heard about the plight of the joey and contacted a colleague with an agricultural background at the embassy in Brussels, who in turn called Antwerp Zoo for medical advice. From there a search was done for a specific marsupial milk replacement – which led them to Adelaide.
"I think it will be okay now, it will continue to thrive and will soon be out of the artificial pouch," Ms Birgin said.
"I went to see her again yesterday and she is doing very well."
Wombaroo is the only company in the world which makes the formula.
"The formula is very important," Ms Rich said.
"Unlike other mammals, marsupials get their energy from fat and proteins... it's very different.""The zoo was giving her cow's milk ... marsupials don't do very well on it."
Take a look at the picture of the Kanagroo at Belgrade zoo in the article.
www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,25377822-5006301,00.html
Glen Osmond animal nutrition firm Wombaroo has air-freighted an emergency shipment of marsupial milk supplement to the East European country to save a joey whose mother has abandoned her.
Wombaroo company director Samantha Rich said the she was only too happy to help.
"It's quite a touching story," she said.
The six-month-old joey, named Tijana, accidentally fell out of its mother's pouch when she was attacked by an emu at Belgrade Zoo.
The traumatised mother refused to take Tijana back after the attack, leaving the starving joey for dead.
Despite being placed in an incubator and given a milk supplement by hand by zoo staff, her condition continued to degrade. Her plight became news in Serbia as well as across Europe.
Australian ambassador to Serbia, Clare Birgin, heard about the plight of the joey and contacted a colleague with an agricultural background at the embassy in Brussels, who in turn called Antwerp Zoo for medical advice. From there a search was done for a specific marsupial milk replacement – which led them to Adelaide.
"I think it will be okay now, it will continue to thrive and will soon be out of the artificial pouch," Ms Birgin said.
"I went to see her again yesterday and she is doing very well."
Wombaroo is the only company in the world which makes the formula.
"The formula is very important," Ms Rich said.
"Unlike other mammals, marsupials get their energy from fat and proteins... it's very different.""The zoo was giving her cow's milk ... marsupials don't do very well on it."
Take a look at the picture of the Kanagroo at Belgrade zoo in the article.
www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,25377822-5006301,00.html