A kangaroo joey with leucism was recently born at a zoo in New York. The rare condition causes animals to partially lose pigment in their skin, fur or feathers.
The joey, which has been named Cosmos, is the newest arrival at Animal Adventure Park. He was born five months ago, according to CNN, but keepers removed him from his mother’s pouch on January 15 for the first time.
A kangaroo’s gestation period is between 21 and 38 days long. Joeys are tiny when they’re born and can measure between 5 to 25 millimeters, so the keepers needed to leave the baby alone to grow.
Speaking to CNN, park owner Jordan Patch said: ‘Right off the bat when we saw he was white it was remarkable, but when we got a closer look and saw the black eyes, our jaws dropped to the floor. In that moment we knew we had something we’d never seen in our entire careers.’
‘This is the only kangaroo of its kind in existence in North America at this moment, so that’s how rare this is,’ he continued.
The parents of the new addition are named Boomer and Rosie, two red kangaroos who have resided in the park for eight years.
Take a look at the beautiful boy below:
Image: Screenshot from video
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