'Feisty' Long-Nosed Potoroo Ready for Life Without Mom

A “fiesty” eight-month-old long-nosed potoroo is now ready for a life without mom, keepers at Aussie Ark in Tomalla, New South Wales, said.

Footage released by Aussie Ark shows keepers taking Pippin, a young male long-nosed potoroo, from his mother’s enclosure into his new, independent life with other mature females.

Pippin was bred at Aussie Ark and is part of the park’s rewilding program, destined for release into the Barrington Wildlife Sanctuary.

Aussie Ark operations manager Dean Reid conducted Pippin’s transfer and was pleased with his progress.

“It was great to have Pippin in-hand today. He’s a feisty little man! I think he’s going to do really well in the breeding program," Reid said.

“I can’t wait to see little Pippins pinging around everywhere!” he added. Credit: Aussie Ark via Storyful

Video transcript

You can see I've got a female waiting in here for him.It's a new female called Pipette, and Pippin will be going in there as well.So we're in Pippin's new enclosure, which looks lovely.It's got lots of Le Mandras.We're gonna release him and there's a female hiding in there somewhere.Pipette.