Parents are always beaming with pride when their babies take their first steps.
Mother wallaby Ava enjoyed this magical moment when her joey fully emerged from her pouch fo the first time — and the whole thing was captured on video at the Cincinnati Zoo.
“First steps!” the zoo tweeted Friday. “See Ava’s new joey coming out of the pouch for the first time.”
First steps! See Ava’s new joey coming out of the pouch for the first time. pic.twitter.com/kp6NqwWyOr
— Cincinnati Zoo (@CincinnatiZoo) April 16, 2021
Wallabies are marsupials, or pouched mammals. They area also part of the same family as the kangaroo.
Their babies are born underdeveloped and then crawl into their mother’s pouch before poking their heads out into the world.
Ava’s joey took a peek.
Then made the leap.
The mother’s pouch is where the baby continues to develop for several months before first poking their heads out — and then hopping out — into their surroundings.
It didn’t take long for this joey to maybe want to return to the comforts of home-sweetest-home.
But the nearly naked joey seems to have his sea legs — and an avid curiosity about the world.
And now, the zoo is looking for a name for the male wallaby.
It’s a bouncing baby boy! Do you have a great name suggestion for this little wallaby? pic.twitter.com/pETRKx9Kl0
— Cincinnati Zoo (@CincinnatiZoo) April 16, 2021
