By David Baker



Motherly love: This Bennett tree-kangaroo keeps her unusual joey close by having drawn attention since his birth in the Garden of Nature Zoo in Hungary

Poking his head tentatively out of his mother's pouch this kangaroo has got everyone hopping mad.

But while crowds come out to marvel at the albino joey his mother is always on hand to make sure everything is all white.

Sticking close to her side this baby albino Bennett tree-kangaroo has already caused a storm.


Everything all white? This albino Bennett tree-kangaroo has caused a storm since his birth one month ago

Up until a few years ago growing concern about the population of Bennett kangaroos led to new legislation to protect the 'near threatened' species.

So the arrival of this albino was an unusual addition at the Garden of Nature zoo in the town of Szeged, Hungary.

Following his birth more and more visitors have been coming to see the unique tree-kangaroo, or Dendrolagus bennettianus as it is officially called.

And despite its colour it is thought the joey is fit and healthy and can now expect to grow in weight of up to almost two-and-a-half stone.

As a species they are very agile and are able to leap 30ft from branch to branch and have been known to drop as far as 59ft without injury.

More commonly found in both mountain and lowland tropical rain forests they are one of the more unusual animals at Hungary's newest zoo.

Having been opened back in 1989 it spans almost 45 hectares, making it the youngest, but biggest zoo in the country.

It also famously has its own Nature Conservation Rescue Centre, which treats almost one thousand injured or orphaned wild animals every year.

Legislation was passed to protect the species in their native Australia meaning they are no longer hunted by Aboriginals.


source:dailymail