Lulu

Lulu's Mum had been killed on the highway between Trinity Beach and Trinity Park just north of Cairns. Luckily for Lulu, she was found by a kind lady who was on her morning bike ride. She removed her from Mum's pouch and rang us early one Saturday morning (23/09/06).

About 30 minutes later, she dropped Lulu off to us for care. When we received her, she was 628gms and just starting to get fur.

At the start Lulu received five feeds a day of Wombaroo kangaroo milk replacer and needed to be toileted after every feed. Two weeks later and she was still doing extremely well! She had taken to her bottle like a duck to water and settled right in!

One morning I went to check on her and she had wiggled out of her pouch and was standing on the floor looking around! After two weeks, Lulu was still doing fine. She had gained 130gms in weight and like to hop out of her pouch and explore the loungeroom, especially in the early hours of the morning!

After three weeks Lulu was progressing very, very well. She has put on another 80 gms, despite a short tummy upset that gave her a touch of Diarrhoea! She tried grass for the first time and seemed to really enjoy it! She now has a little playmate called Eddie - but he's another story!

After four weeks of care Lulu weighed in at 950gms. She was very alert and enjoyed her daily excursions into the big wallaby pen. These were designed to get her acquainted with the other animals as well as give her an opportunity to stretch and learn to use her legs. Of course, "Mum" was always close at hand for when she had enough or wanted to return to the security of her pouch.

When she reached 1.35kg, Lulu was developing into a beautiful little girl! Her increased appetite meant she has now started on solid foods, which include apple, carrot and grass. We started introducing these into her pouch and she would nibble now and again. But now, she relishes them!

She would spend more time exploring and learned to use her legs very well! She has graduated to the outside pen, where she spends most of the day, leaving her pouch at intervals to explore. Of course, she comes inside at night. Two weeks later Lulu was still growing stronger with each day. She weighed 1.55kg and was very healthy. She would spend more time out of her pouch and graze regularly.

Lulu's colouring was darker than the other wallabies that we were caring for, but she was still distinctly an Agile. Over the years I have noticed distinct colour variations within the Agile wallaby species, dependant upon where they come from. Wallabies from Yorkeys Knob and Kuranda tend to be lighter with more of a white underbelly, whilst wallabies from Trinity Beach are darker like Lulu.

Lulu blossomed into a very happy and healthy teenager! She maintained her close friendship with Eddie and the two of them were never far apart. Weighing 3.5kg and is being prepared for release. Her first tetanus shots have been done and her next ones will be due in a few weeks.  Lulu was the only female Joey that we had at this time and she tended to assert herself over the other three males. She liked her space and only tolerated Eddie being close! She was a very curious little girl and always wanted to "help" when I am doing maintenance in the enclosure. Pity she can't hold a rake!

After eight months of care, Lulu was finally released! She had grown into a beautiful little girl with a distinctive dark coloration. She was released with three other wallabies - Eddie, Ollie & Pietro. They have all gone to a release site at Cedar Park Resort on the Atherton Tablelands. This is truly "wallaby heaven" with lots of space, no roads or dogs!

We hope Lulu has the chance have her own Joeys in time!