North Georgia zookeeper creates man-made pouch to save baby kangaroo

North Georgia Zoo and Farm assistant director Melissa Burns gently supports Lillypad the red kangaroo on Friday, Sept. 2, 2016, in Cleveland, Ga. Lillypad is between five and six months old and was orphaned earlier this summer. North Georgia Zoo and Farm assistant director Melissa Burns gently supports Lillypad the red kangaroo on Friday, Sept. 2, 2016, in Cleveland, Ga. Lillypad is between five and six months old and was orphaned earlier this summer.

By Ben Benton September 5, 2016 4 min read

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North Georgia zookeeper plays ‘Kanga’ to save baby roo

Here, four red kangaroo adults lounge in their enclosure on Friday, Sept. 2, 2016, at the North Georgia Zoo and Farm in Cleveland, Ga., as a zoo staff member passes with a wagon. A tiny joe in the group named Lillypad was orphaned earlier this summer but has survived thanks to the efforts of zoo staff.

North Georgia Zoo and Farm assistant director Melissa Burns shows the pouch on one of the wallabies at the zoo.

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More infoLearn more about the North Georgia Zoo at www.northgeorgiazoo.com

CLEVELAND, Ga. – Lillypad’s first human contact came after her mother died this spring. Then the baby red kangaroo was so tiny she could fit easily in the palm of a person’s hand.

On Friday, Lillypad was hanging around – literally – at the North Georgia Zoo and Farm, in a small, soft fabric handbag that assistant zoo director Melissa Burns wore around her neck as she wandered through enclosures containing hundreds of exotic animals and farm stock.

Back around June, 3-year-old Lillybet, the baby ‘roo’s mother, found and ate some holly leaves, which are toxic to almost any animal and especially kangaroos. Burns stayed at Lillybet’s side while she and zoo staff members struggled for two days to beat the poison, but the kangaroo died.

Little Lillypad, still hairless and around 3 months old, was inside her mother’s pouch until the end. Burns had to decide what to do next.