Unbelievable Video Of A Kangaroo That Lives In Trees | Extraordinary Animals | Our World

Next, we're on the other side of the world, in Australia. It's a continent not unknown for its unique and rather strange animals. And none are stranger than perhaps the macropods, such as kangaroos and wallabies, both of which developed large feet, strong, long tails, and an ability to hop huge distances through the outback. But head into the lush Australian rainforest, and you might be surprised to discover there is a kangaroo that has evolved to live in trees. It's known as the tree kangaroo. Today, conservationist Giles Clark is meeting Margaret Cianelli. She spends her time raising orphan tree kangaroos to help them get back into the wild. Was that her? It could have been. We're about to meet Kimberley. I saw a tail then. Yeah, yeah. Margaret is a former zookeeper, and over the years as a surrogate mum, has successfully released 15 tree kangaroos back into the wild. Look. Oh. Oh, wow. Hello, sweetheart. So this is Kimberley. Yeah, isn't she gorgeous? I think she's coming down. She's heard you. Kimberley has lived in Margaret's house for over two years. Good girl. And she's learnt how to use her paws to help her slide down a tree, tail first, just like a wild tree kangaroo. Good girl, Kimberley. Look, this is Charles. Hello. Isn't she gorgeous? Isn't she beautiful? Almost home. Walking home with a kangaroo on your head is just an everyday experience for Margaret. And so it seems, is sitting down to have tea with one. Just so surreal. Completely normal, I'm sure, for you, but this is definitely not a typical evening. Kimberley is just two and a half years old. In the wild, she would stay with her mother until around the age of three, the longest in the kangaroo family. So while she spends her days in the forest, she still prefers to spend her nights with her surrogate mum. What's her story? How did she end up in your care? She actually fell into a local swimming hole out of a tree and obviously would have drowned. I mean, she was only seven months old. All attempts to reunite Kimberley with her mother failed, so Margaret took on the job. This is a good exercise. She would need to help Kimberley build up her muscles if she was to get back into the trees. Once she'd mastered the basics inside the house, Margaret let her loose on her own handmade jungle gym. Margaret has also been teaching Kimberley what to eat. You're getting your green soup in a minute. Maybe Charles can give you your green soup. This green soup is Kimberley's favourite and provides her with extra fluid and nutrients. Doesn't look like my idea of delicious, but... She likes it, doesn't it? Next, she has to learn what the leaves she will need to eat in the wild look and smell like. Just an eating machine, eh? And when she's fed, it's time to hop up to bed. All righty, goodnight. Sleep well, then. A tree kangaroo's sleep pattern is very different to ours. In the wild, their low-calorie diet means they eat little and often. So they only sleep in short bursts of up to an hour at a time, and that makes getting a good night's rest not that easy for Margaret. Hello. I'm just fascinated in the way in which she gets around. It's this sort of half-walk, half-hop. When she hops, the tail never touches the ground. See, I told you. Unlike her ground-dwelling kangaroo cousins who can only hop, tree kangaroos can move their legs independently. It gives them greater mobility. But Margaret wants Kimberley to spend less time walking on her kitchen floor and more time climbing up in the trees. Good girl. Today, a tiny, lightweight camera is being attached to Kimberley's tracking collar. OK. This will give an opportunity to see the world from Kimberley's perspective, and importantly for Margaret, to see if she has what it takes to survive in the wild. OK, we'd better go. Off the ground, it becomes clear just how agile Kimberley really is. Oh, look at her go. She's perfectly adapted to life in the trees. I'm mesmerised. Just how quickly she got up the tree. She knows how to distribute her weight. Six and a half kilos, and she's just standing literally on twigs. Look at her balancing. It's extraordinary. She's definitely at home in the tree. She knows where she wants to go. To reach the tastiest leaves at the top of the tree, Kimberley will have to climb the height of a six-storey building. It's way beyond what can be seen from ground level. We all got to have a look. Reviewing the camera footage later that night reveals the surprising secrets of Kimberley's abilities. Look how high she is. Almost makes me dizzy when she looks down. Yeah. Right up in the canopy. Her speed along branches is so impressive compared to her awkward movements on the ground. Man, she moves around so quick. And I say I'm a bit surprised by that. She's more active than I... Than you anticipated? Yeah. Kimberley was up in the trees for almost ten hours. During which time she more than proved she was ready for life in the wild. You can see that she's eating here. You can hear it. It's just amazing. And she's so fussy. She picks and sniffs lots of them, but only eats certain ones. It takes Margaret around two years to teach her orphans all the skills they need to survive. But for Kimberley, her days at school are nearly over. You can't help but feel she's nearly there. Shouldn't be too much longer and she'd be making that choice to stay out. I'm going to stay out tonight, Mum. Yes, and I'm ready for it. I'm proud of her. I love her. And she can do it all, even though she didn't have a real mum. Oh, she's got a real mum. You just don't have a big tail. Thanks.