While working at a hospital with outdated equipment, an Australian nurse stumbled upon a way to save the lives of orphaned kangaroos.
The incubators, once used to care for premature human infants, are now simulating the environment of a kangaroo’s pouch, where joeys typically spend the first 8 months of life.
Each year, Kununurra Kangaroo Rescue Haven in East Kimberley, Australia, takes in dozens of orphaned joeys and pinkies—newborn marsupials who haven’t opened their eyes yet. These young animals often struggle to survive without the warmth and protection of their mother’s pouch.
Kangaroos, being Australia’s largest land animals, usually don’t face many natural predators, allowing their populations to grow rapidly. Unfortunately, this also means they are at high risk of becoming roadkill, much like whitetail deer in the US.
Mandy Watson, the director of Kununurra Haven, has rescued hundreds of orphaned joeys whose mothers were hunted or hit by vehicles. However, the youngest and most vulnerable joeys—known as pinkies—often struggle without the warmth and humidity provided by their mother’s pouch. While Watson has successfully reintroduced many orphans to the wild, many others haven’t survived to adulthood.
The life-saving incubators, known as humidicribs, were donated by Jane Darlington, a clinical pediatric nurse at Kununurra District Hospital. With advances in medical technology, the hospital no longer needed the equipment. Darlington had the idea after seeing a volunteer in a wallaby costume, raising awareness for the rescue center while holding an orphaned joey.