Orphan kangaroos spend Christmas without their parents

With traffic accidents claiming countless kangaroos, many babies are finding themselves without any parents

Kiran Moodley
Wednesday 24 December 2014 16:57 GMT
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A baby kangaroo.
A baby kangaroo.

Over here in the UK, we are used to the image of homeless dogs and cats pining for a family at Christmas time.

Yet in Australia, kangaroos are just as likely to be on the lookout for a safe place given the high number of fatalities experienced by the species every year in Australia. A common occurrence down under is the killing of kangaroos in traffic accidents. It was the rise of the automobile that caused the decline of the Tasmanian Devil; that creature can now only be found on the island of Tasmania and not on the mainland.

This video shows two baby kangaroos who lost their mothers in traffic accidents and who are now being looked after by Sam and Owen, two volunteers helping to temporarily house the iconic Australian creatures.

Sam and Owen look after the kangaroos while also attending the university.

"He comes with me to university," they said. "Just about everyone in my class has had cuddles with her, especially during exam time. she's a bit of a stress relief! You just hand her around and she has cuddles".

Aside from that, the pair also help to educate the wider Australian public about the damaging effect cars are having on the lives of kangaroos as well as their habitats.

"We go out to schools and go out to markets and fairs and have all the animals there," they explained. "So people who generally may not come in contact with these animals, we give them that opportunity and that way they can see, they can touch and they can get up and close with these animals and they build that connection, with the animals, with the environment and they're able to see the significance of their actions."

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