Symbio Wildlife Park in New South Wales has welcomed a rare albino wallaby Joey from two red-necked wallaby parents. Only one in 100-thousand wallabies exhibit the genetic trait of albinism.
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00:00Red-necked wallaby, Joey Orloff, was born to parents Ariel and Pete over seven months
00:07ago.
00:08But it took zookeepers until six weeks ago to learn that he's in fact albino.
00:14Albinism is a genetic condition caused by a mutation that affects the production of
00:18melanin, the pigment responsible for colouring the skin, fur, eyes and feathers of animals.
00:25Park authorities say albinism is rare, occurring for every 1 in 17,000 animals and more specifically
00:321 in 100,000 wallabies.
00:35Because of his pale fur and pink eyes, zookeepers say it didn't take them long to choose him
00:40a name.
00:41So yeah, as soon as he poked his little face out of the pouch, I think we all looked at
00:42one another and knew what his name was going to be.
00:43Yeah, we weren't going to argue that point at all.
00:50Wallabies in wildlife parks like this one can live up to 15 years old, compared to 13
00:55years in the wild.
00:56Orloff will live his life alongside the 40 other wallabies here in Helensburg and isn't
01:01expected to experience any health issues due to his albinism.
01:06He's now strong enough to emerge from his mother's pouch to greet guests here just
01:09in time for the school holidays.