By Sheila Key -Aug 17, 2015
After they leave the nest, parents always hope their kids will come back and
visit. Even when that kid is a kangaroo.
Australian mom and wildlife rehabilitator Gillian Abbot rescued this baby roo when it was two months old and raised the orphan, giving it a teddy bear to cuddle with.
Now almost fully grown, Doodlebug, as he was named, is making another life transition, what animal-rescue folks call a “soft return” to the wild.
He comes and goes as he pleases now, and every time the eastern gray
kangaroo returns to his homestead, he empties the food bowl and hugs his
teddy– just like old times.
The family shared a photo of the young marsupial holding tight to the teddy
bear, which has been thoughtfully tied up to dangle at a huggable height.
Abbot is a licensed ‘wildlife carer’ in New South Wales and a member of the rescue organization WIRES .
Send This Hug Around the World
https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org
By Nelson Groom for Daily Mail Australia
Adorable Image Of Orphaned Kangaroo Joey Hugging A Teddy Bear
Stops The Internet In Its Tracks
DailyMail.Co.Uk 6 August 2015
Adorable image of an orphaned kangaroo joey hugging a teddy bear
stops the internet in its tracks. Tim Beshara tweeted the image on Wednesday night and it soon went viral Beshara's wildlife caretaker mother took the image from her NSW property Doodlebug the eastern grey kangaroo loves cuddling up to a teddy bear.
The orphaned animal has recovered and is now roaming the wild
A heart-warming image of an orphaned kangaroo named
Doodlebug cuddling a golden teddy bear has taken social media
by storm.
Tim Beshara, an adviser to Greens senator for Tasmania Peter
Whish-Wilson, tweeted the photo of the eastern-grey kangaroo
on Wednesday, explaining his wildlife caretaker mother took it
from her home in the Northern Rivers region of New South
Wales.
After the image was shared around the world, Beshara told
Daily Mail Australia he was surprised it proved so popular.
'I figured it would be shared in Australia but I've been stunned
to see the image reaching as far as Brazil and Russia. I've even
had American morning shows using it on air.' the eastern-grey kangaroo was pictured on the property of a wildlife caretaker in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales Beshara's mother Gillian discovered the orphaned animals responded well to teddy bears that she hung around the yard. 'They seem to respond to the toys much in the same way as a
toddler. They treat it as a companion.'
Beshara said his mother later corrected him on the species of
the animal, which he had originally listed as a wallaby, but was
in fact a kangaroo. 'It was pretty embarrassing given my background in science.' Beshara said his mother Gillian assumed care of him when he
was abandoned as a newborn.
'He may have fallen out of his mother's pouch or his mother
may have died. He was a couple of months old when he was
passed onto my mother's wildlife company WIRES.'
Despite being in poor health when Gillian took the animal in, he
has fully recovered and is now roaming the wild.
'She has since nursed it back to health and it is now hopping
around the forest and coming back for the occasional feeding
or cuddle, as the image shows.'
Photo by Gillian Abbott