"Kangaroo Dundee" Is Surrogate Mom For Orphaned Roos

A 6'7" man in his 40s hardly seems like the mom type, but Australian Chris Barnes has been mothering orphaned kangaroos for 20 years now. Back then he gave up the city for a life in the Outback to care for three Baby Kangaroo (Public Domain Image)joeys he had rescued. Like any good mother, his little joeys come first including night time feedings. Over the years he has raised some 200 of the animals.

Barnes, whose nickname is "Brolga," an aboriginal word for stork, and his unusual life are the subject of a new two-part documentary on the BBC. The cameras follow him as he cares for three newly-orphaned roos. Barnes lives in a shed with no running water in the Outback not far from Alice Springs. The biggest secret to his success in raising his joeys is giving them lots of love.

He will even take them into town to go shopping with them in pouch slings hung around his neck so that they can feel safe and comfortable. He also spent years building his own sanctuary for his marsupial friends, doing odd jobs to raise the money for the materials. He regularly has to patrol the perimeter of the sanctuary to make sure that the kangaroos are safe from wild dogs. However, the biggest threat to his family is from bush fires.

Raising kangaroos is a 24/7 labor of love and Barnes wouldn't trade it for anything.

Source: Mail Online