Aussies react to surprise sound in 'adorable' baby kangaroo video

Many people have been surprised to discover the "unexpected" sound a joey makes, with an animal rescue organisation revealing what it means.

Rescued from the scene of a car accident last month where the mother sadly died, a baby kangaroo was videoed making a rather raspy sound to a carer at Kangala Kangaroo and Wildlife Rescue.

"Joeys all make a call like that," director and founder Lisa Carran of the organisation at Kangaroo Island, South Australia, told Yahoo News Australia.

"In the wild, it's usually when they're communicating with their mother if they're lost or a bit worried."

"But in this case, he's calling out to me because he wants his bottle and a cuddle, which he got, as I've now taken on that role as the parent."

Kangaroos make two types of sounds

Besides the raspy sound, Ms Carran said you'll also here joeys — but mainly mothers — making a "clicking noise," as a way to say "stay away from me" or "I'm a bit frightened".

"A mother will specifically do that to warn you or predators," she said. "And she'll stand up on her hind legs. But we do also hear the sound in new joeys, who are not really sure of another joey."

Kangaroos and wallabies are sadly the most killed animal on roads. And while the joey in the video wasn't distressed, Ms Carran explained that it's common for carers to hear the raspy sound with new joeys that come into their care, because they miss their mums.

"It takes them about a week to realise everything is okay," she said. "The first few days are very traumatic for them because they don't know whether we're going to help them or hurt them."

She explained that initially, the joey in the video was "a bit shy and withdrawn, and didn't want the other joeys touching him," but is all settled now. "He has a couple of best friends now which is nice to see," she said.

• Aussie couple make heartbreaking find in middle of road: 'Very lucky'

• Tourist fights off kangaroo trying to get 'frisky' with woman

• Aussie woman shocks with how she handles kangaroo: 'Looks weird'

'I was not expecting that'

The video of a joey making a sound garnered thousands of views on the rescue organisations socials, with many "surprised by his sound".

"Aww bless, thanks for sharing," one person said on Instagram. "I would have thought poor buddy had something wrong with their throat...never thought roos had a 'voice'."

"Baby needs to ease up on the cigarettes," another joked on TikTok. "Honestly this is adorable."

"That's a low key velociraptor squawk," a third person said.

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