Wombat baby's miracle escape

June 08 2004 at 07:33AM

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Sydney - Bald, pink and bright-eyed, Cherry the baby wombat is enjoying a second chance at life outside her more usual environment - her mother's pouch.

She owes her continued existence to the motorist who spotted Cherry's mother dead on the road - a victim of a passing car - and stuck his hand in its pouch to discover the then three-month-old, 220g orphan still very much alive.

The little wombat was taken to Sydney's Taronga Zoo where she has acquired a foster mother, zoo keeper Lana Langdale, who will care for Cherry until she is old enough to be reintroduced into the wild in about six months' time.

Caring motorists are being advised to check the pouches of recently killed wombats for suckling infants - and to seek professional care as soon as possible.


Here's a picture of the little bugger. And one question: Does this type of thing happen a lot out there in Oz?