Australian Reptile Park’s wallaby joey takes its first hops

The Australian Reptile Park has captured a video of a wallaby joey taking its first hops on Australia Day.

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A yellow-footed rock-wallaby joey has been caught on camera taking its first hops at The Australian Reptile Park.

To top it off, the native Aussie decided to start hopping on Australia Day – and hasn’t stopped since.

The wallaby, named Dorito, had a rough start at life after she was rejected by her mum.

She has since been raised by Australian Reptile Park mammal keeper Erica Johnstone who now has the job of chasing her as she madly hops around the house.

Dorito is a much loved wallaby joey at The Australian Reptile Park. Picture: The Australian Reptile Park

“It’s always exciting to see a joey you have put so much of your time and effort into happily hopping around,” Ms Johnstone said.

“When we first saw her, we honestly didn’t know if she was going to be okay, so it makes me extremely emotional to see her the happiest joey ever. And what better day to do it on than Australia Day. It doesn’t get more Australian than that.”

Dorito will eventually move into the reptile park’s enclosure full time and become part of the conservation breeding program for the endangered species.

Yellow-footed rock-wallabies are classified as vulnerable in NSW.

Large numbers of the wallabies were killed in the 1800s and early 1900s due to their beautiful markings.

Their current threats are fox and feral cats, loss of habitat and competition for food and water sources from feral animals.