Orphaned wallaby reared in rucksack with hot water bottle

An orphaned wallaby is being reared in a rucksack instead of her mother's pouch after she was found on a road in the Isle of Man.

The joey was taken to the Manx Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Ard Jerkyll after she was found near the Curraghs last week.

The MSPCA's Jenny Corran said the joey could have fallen from her mother's pouch or been rejected at birth.

A pair of wallabies escaped a wildlife park in the 1970s - there are now 120.

'Nibbling grapes'

The animals, native to Australia, thrive in the Curraghs, in the north of the island.

Ms Corran, who usually cares for rescued seals, said she the baby wallaby was "very fragile but coping well".

"We are feeding her with milk every three hours and she has just started nibbling grapes.

"We are using a backpack as a surrogate pouch and inside is a hot water bottle wrapped up in a towel which we change after every feed."

The joey was around three weeks old when she was brought to the centre, which is liaising with Blackpool Zoo and the Isle of Man's Curraghs Wildlife Park about her future.

She has not yet been given a name.