In October 2017, when four kangaroos arrived at the Alipore Zoological Gardens from the Kanazawa Zoo of Japan, officials at the Alipore facility had not thought that the marsupials would start breeding in less than a year.
On Friday, a baby kangaroo emerged from its mother’s pouch. This appearance prompted the authorities to announce that the number of eastern grey kangaroos in the zoo had now increased to five.
“We are yet to ascertain whether the baby is male or female. We are very happy that baby came out of the pouch and tried to eat some grass,” Asis Kumar Samanta, Director of Alipore Zoological Garden told The Hindu .
Between 2015 and 2017 for almost two years, there were no kangaroos at the zoological garden. Four red kangaroos had been brought earlier from the Czech Republic but none survived.
“The mother — we call her Punca — is doing well. We think the baby can adapt to the environment,” Mr. Samanta said. Over the past few years, the zoo has had births of zebras, giraffes and marsh crocodiles.
An Asiatic lion was born a few days ago but authorities are keeping a watch and have not brought it into public view.
