Potoroo too big for mum's pouch

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/cornwall/7480156.stm

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A young Antipodean marsupial at a Devon wildlife trust is being seen more frequently because it is getting too big for its mother's pouch.

The potoroo was born in December 2007 at Shaldon Wildlife Trust.

Staff at the trust say they are delighted the baby is out and about for all to see, because it cannot hide away as much.

The animals from Australasia stand about 30cm (1ft) high when they are fully grown and eat fungi.

'Fair size'

Tracey Moore from the trust said observers could not always see how young potoroos are developing because of the amounts of time they spent in the pouch.

She said it made them seem mysterious: "They are because they stay in the pouch for so long.

"They're born the size of bean and then stay in the pouch for about 120 days.

"They then start to emerge and keep going back in Mum's pouch, so they don't actually come out properly until about 170 days

"They then keep staying out until they are actually too big to get back into Mum's pouch, so by the time we see them they're usually a fair size."