Meet the Kind People Who Are Giving a Hop-Full New Start to Baby Kangaroos

While kangaroos have long been the poster child for Australian wildlife, recently, they have fallen on hard times. Large portions of the kangaroo population are being culled to make space for ranchers and sheep and many Australians have started to view kangaroos as nothing more than vermin.

However, in Golden Beach Victoria, there is a couple who thinks quite differently. Though they didn’t know it at the time, Our Haven Wildlife Shelter was founded by Theresa and Tony Matthews in 2010 when a stranger thrust a baby gray joey into Tony’s arms and drove off without explanation. The couple attempted to contact local shelters and wildlife agencies with little success. When Theresa finally did get through to someone one, she was informed, “there [are] very few carers, all of which [are] unable to care for this beautiful little boy because they were full to capacity.” The person on the other end of the phone recommended the baby joey be euthanized.

This was not an option for Theresa and Tony and so, by the time Theresa hung up the phone, they found themselves making a career change – the couple was in the business of rescue and rehabilitation. They named the baby joey Bobby and went about raising the orphan as their best they could. Grey kangaroos are very hard to raise but Theresa and Tony have had an extremely high success rate.

Today, Bobby is no longer an only child. There have been a more than a few new additions to the household.

Like Spud and Lucky.

And little Summer.

It may be a bit crowded, but everyone seems to get along just fine.

And everyone is very polite. Even when it gets to be dinner time.

It’s always nice to have friends around. We all need more love and affection in our lives.

Especially during the holiday season.

Theresa and Toby started Our Haven Wildlife Shelter because there was no one else who would. They funded the venture completely out of pocket. However, they have an increasing number of kangaroos and are looking to move to a larger space that is more remote. To help them achieve this dream and learn more about their organization visit their website to Donate to the cause, or check out their blog to keep up with their ever-growing family of kangaroos.

All Images Source: Our Haven Wildlife Shelter