Meet the wombat whisperer who hand-raised miracle joey found in roadkill pouch
A tiny baby wombat has stolen the hearts of thousands of social media users after he was filmed trotting through the sand on a quiet Tasmanian beach.
The joey was rescued by the island’s resident ‘wombat lady’ Kate Mooney, who spoke to Yahoo!7 of her newest addition while he sat curled up beside her on the porch of her home on Flinders Island.
Ms Mooney found the baby weighing only 700 grams hiding in the pouch of his mother, who had been hit by a car.
As a habit, the ‘Green Glades’ wombat sanctuary owner regularly checks roadkill for any signs of joeys.
“He would’ve been 5 months old I reckon,” she recalled of December 28 – “a Tuesday it was” - the day she took the orphaned baby home.
“I got him out of the pouch and took him to work.”
He was affectionately named Derek, after a tourist who had rescued several other babies and delivered them to Ms Mooney’s 100-acre property.
When professional photographer Sean Scott came across Derek on a visit to Flinders Island, he posted several videos of the encounter on Facebook.
Within days the videos had a combined total of over 75,000 views.
Ms Mooney, who has appeared in various newspapers reports and videos over the years, said she understands why the world has fallen in love with Derek.
“He’s very cute,” she told Yahoo!7.
“He’s particularly gorgeous because he’s so capable.”
Derek is lucky to have all of his new mum’s attention, as he is the only wombat in her care at the moment.
“There hasn’t been much roadkill fortunately,” she said, attributing the falling numbers to the lack of rain on the island.
Rain encourages greenery to grow on the side of the road, she explained, luring wombats close to speeding cars.
Ms Mooney has lived on the island for 35 years, and has spent 20 of those years caring for her beloved wombats.
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News break – March 20
