1/2 The wombat looks out of the pouch (photo: Thomas Schüten)
At BestZOO zoo in Best, a young wombat showed itself for the first time on Monday by peeking out of the mother’s pouch. This makes the mysterious animal the first wombat born in the Netherlands. “Very unique.”
An attentive visitor to BestZOO took a fascinating photo on Monday. A small furry creature pushes the mother’s pouch aside with its paw and peeks out.
“No idea how old the animal is.”
“That is very unique”, says Jos Nooren, the owner of BestZOO. “This wombat is clearly visible for the first time, but we have no idea when the animal was born. The creature could be four, five or even six months old.”
The Australian marsupial is unique for several reasons. It is the only animal with square turds. A young is tiny at birth, about two centimeters in size. After birth, the animal remains in the pouch of the mother for months.
The pouch, like other burrowing marsupials, is set back so that the young is not buried while digging. It is waiting for the animal to show itself one day. That happened on Easter Monday in Best.
“Young wombats rarely show themselves.”
“We had already seen the animal peek carefully out of the pouch once. We didn’t want to announce that immediately because we would have to disappoint many visitors. Young wombats rarely show themselves,” Nooren admits.
On Monday, the first visitors saw the wombat. Yet it remains a mysterious animal according to its owner. “Very little is known about the animal species.”
That is not crazy. Zoo owner Nooren had a first for our country when he brought wombats from Australia to Best two years ago. That was not easy. The Australian government had to approve the arrival and residence of the critters down to the smallest details.
“Wait when the animal comes out of the pouch.”
Only a limited number of zoos in the world have the animal. Births are therefore rare in captivity.
What will happen to the young wombat will remain exciting for a while. “If the mother has enough milk, the pouch will become too heavy and the animal will come out. For now, we have to wait and see when that will happen.”
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