Alone and scared, wallaby Joey Riley clings to his dead mother’s body on the side of a road: this is the touching story of his rescue
- Wallaby Joey found himself clinging to his dead mother
- Was lucky enough to survive one night during cold weather
A poignant image has emerged of an orphaned baby wallaby clinging to its dead mother’s fur in freezing temperatures after she was hit by a vehicle.
The owner of the Hamilton Wildlife Center, Shelley Burrowes, came across the heartbreaking discovery Tuesday morning while driving along a busy road near Frances in South Australia.
She saw the joey, who had clung to his mother’s fur at night in the cold and wet weather, and stopped her car to pick him up and transport him to a nearby rehabilitation center.
“When I approached him he clung to his mother’s fear and he was terrified,” Ms Burrowes told Daily Mail Australia.
“And when I stepped next to him, he looked up at me and he made a very weak imposter sound, what they do when they, they call for help to their mother.”
“It was just the saddest sight and broke my heart.”
A wallaby joey has been found by an animal center owner who was lucky enough to be alive after clinging to his dead mother’s fur during a cold and wet night after being hit by a vehicle
The joey has since been called Riley.
He was lucky enough to be found by Mrs. Burrowes, who drives her car with pouches to transport orphaned children.
“I held it up in my vest like I had it (the pouch) folded in half so it was nice and snug and let my body warm it up for the rest of the ride,” Ms Burrowes said.
“I took him to my friends in Bordertown and he was warmed up, so then I assessed him for any injuries and he didn’t appear to be injured.
“So then he was put in a really, really nice warm sleeping bag and he was placed by the fire so he could keep warming up and settle in for a while.”
After a night of eating and some much-needed TLC, Riley was already on the mend and started hopping around.
He has since been taken to a caretaker in South Australia to live with an orphaned kangaroo joey to “befriend”.
Riley the joey was lucky enough to have been found by the owner of the zoo, Shelley Burrowes, who had pouches to put the joey in to warm up
A majority of the animals that come into Mrs. Burrowes’ care have been injured or orphaned from vehicle collisions.
’90 per cent of the orphans we get from kangaroos, wallabies and possums are from collisions, most of the bed cases are also our calculations,’ said Ms Burrowes.
‘Car collisions are the main reason why we get animals into care.’
She begged drivers to be careful on country roads when animals are around, as they can jump onto the road unpredictably.
“Just be more aware of the environment when you’re traveling and if you see something just tap your foot on the brake, slow down a bit as you go by,” said Ms Burrowes.
“You never know when something is going to pop out in front of you, even if it looks like it’s sitting there happily.
“They can jump out at the last minute, all the beds can take off at the last minute and fly across the road.”