A college has welcomed a new arrival to their animal studies department, and staff and students are jumping for joy.
Suffolk Rural in Otley, part of Suffolk New College, was delighted to see that one of their wallabies had given birth.
According to Andrew Waddingham, a senior technician at the college – mother and baby are doing well.
He said: “The mother (called Jessie) has been looking after the newborn and all has been fine.
“We first noticed a head pop out of Jessie’s pouch about three weeks ago. Although with wallabies, it could be up to six months old as they crawl up into the pouch for nearly half a year.
“Hopefully within a couple of weeks it will hop out of the pouch.”
In addition to the marsupials on site, Suffolk Rural has also welcomed two new baby skunks called Winston and Ralph.
Helen Pearson is the animal centre manager at Suffolk Rural College and she named the pair after her childhood gerbils.
The duo (one of which is an albino) were born about nine weeks ago and have been at the college for a fortnight.
The skunks and wallabies are a number of new species to have come to the college after a half-million revamp of some new facilities that were unveiled earlier this year in front of Jimmy Doherty, TikTok influencer Kyle Thomas and a selection of guests and stakeholders.
Latest additions to the unit include meerkats, and it is hoped that some capybaras will be joining the college in the near future.
Mr Waddingham continued: “We currently support over a hundred students who get to work with lots of different animals in some amazing new facilities – so it’s a very exciting time for our department.”
For more information about the college and courses you can visit www.suffolk.ac.uk/animal-management/