Offspring of the Bennett's kangaroos
Chemnitz Zoo: Special offers during the winter holidays
The Bennett's kangaroos at Chemnitz Zoo have had offspring. Both females each have a young animal in their pouch. How old they are, however, can only be estimated. At birth, kangaroo babies are no bigger than a 2-euro coin, so you don't necessarily notice them straight away. However, the zoo team assumes that the young animals were born last year.
As with all marsupials, Bennett's kangaroo pups are born relatively underdeveloped after a short gestation period of around 30 days. They are naked, deaf and blind and can only hold on to their mother's fur with the help of their arms. Nevertheless, they quickly and independently find their way into the pouch, where they suckle on a teat and are fed with their mother's milk. Usually only a single cub is born, twins are rare.
After around six months, the young leave the pouch for the first time. After a further two months, it has finally grown too big to fit in. However, the young are suckled until they are around one year old. For this purpose, they put their head into their mother's pouch. This is not yet the case at Chemnitz Zoo. However, you can now see the young animals peeking out of their mothers' pouches relatively regularly.
With the two young animals, the group of Bennett's kangaroos at the zoo has grown to five animals. As the species is quite hardy, it can use the outdoor enclosure all year round. They share this with the greater emus, an Australian ratite species. At the zoo, the kangaroos regularly give birth in January or February, when they are discovered.
Winter holidays in the zoo and wildlife park:
A visit to Chemnitz Zoo is also worthwhile during the winter holidays. With a bit of luck, the first young animals of the year can be discovered and the warm houses are a good place to go when it's cold outside.
There will also be exciting activities in the zoo and wildlife enclosure: From Saturday, 10 February, Chemnitz Zoo will once again be hosting exciting short tours for young and old every day at 11am during the winter holidays. The Persian leopards will kick things off, and on Sunday, 11 February, the Chinese giant salamander will be on the programme. The other guided tours can be enquired about at the ticket office or found on the zoo's homepage at www.tierpark-chemnitz.de.
In the Oberrabenstein wildlife enclosure, the popular show feedings take place again on weekdays at 11 a.m.: Mondays and Saturdays with the wolves, Tuesdays and Fridays with the mouflons, Wednesdays with the bison and Thursdays and Sundays with the wildcats.
Opening hours of the zoo and game reserve in February:
9 a.m. to 4 p.m., last admission 3 p.m.