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Baby kangaroos visit Clearwater Marine Aquarium
Two joeys are at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium for the next few weeks.
CLEARWATER, Fla. - Staff at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium hope to give visitors a hoppin’ good time, thanks to a pair of visiting kangaroos.
"It's going to be small groups of people that are going to get up close and personal with our joeys," Amazing Animals Inc. President Brian Braitsch said.
One of the visiting joey kangaroos at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium.
Joey is another term for a baby kangaroo. Amazing Animals Inc., a non-profit animal preserve that has partnered with CMA for the last seven years, is loaning the joeys for the next five weeks.
The backstory:
"We have very similar missions. We focus on terrestrial species. The aquarium does an amazing job rescuing, rehabilitating and releasing marine species. But, they don't have the space to have something like a capybara, a sloth, or a kangaroo, and that's what we specialize in," Braitsch said. "We can sometimes bring in some of the babies that we have to educate and teach people about them here in Clearwater, and then they'll go back and live at our facilities."
One of the visiting joey kangaroos hoppin' at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium.
Irwin is a 10-month-old boy joey, and Bindi is a 9-month-old girl.
Joey's spend most of their time in their mother’s pouches, so they’ll stay in substitute pouches at the aquarium. After their tenure at the aquarium, they will join an adult kangaroo at the preserve.
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"They are a mob-group animals. They love to live in big mobs, big groups," Braitsch said.
Dig deeper:
At the aquarium, the kangaroos can be seen as part of a general admission ticket. For an additional cost, guests can have one-on-one time with the pair.
Sign at CMA showing the kangaroo experience.
"The experience is going to be really nice. You're going to get an opportunity to actually hold them. You can give them a little head rub," Braitsch said. "Everyone's going to get a complimentary photo with them as well."
What's next:
The aquarium offers those experiences five times a day, and people must purchase tickets in advance.
For more information, click here.
The Source: FOX 13's Barry Wong collected the information in this story.
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