Shiga: Visitors Hopping Over to Park to See Baby Kangaroos; Expected to Stay in Pouch Until Start of Next Year

The Yomiuri Shimbun

12:30 JST, December 14, 2024

HINO, Shiga — Visitors are hopping over to an agricultural theme park in Hino, Shiga Prefecture, to see the park’s two new eastern grey kangaroo babies.

There are currently eight adult eastern grey kangaroos at Shiga Agricultural Park “Blumen Hugel Farm.”

The joeys were confirmed around August and September when they first poked their heads out of the pouches of their mothers — Orange and Sumomo. Dekopon, a male kangaroo at the park, is believed to be the father of both joeys, according to the park.

It is Orange’s first joey, a male, and Sumomo’s sixth, whose sex is not yet known.

According to the agricultural park, the joeys are now about 50 centimeters tall. It is difficult to determine the exact day when kangaroos are born because they immediately crawl into their mother’s pouch, so the day they poke their head out is considered to be their birthday.

Both joeys have been going in and out of their mothers’ pouches, eating food and playing with their mothers. The joeys will likely be seen in and out of the pouches until the beginning of next year.

Entry to the park is ¥1,500 for junior high school students and older and ¥800 for elementary school students and children aged 4 and over.