Rare albino wallaby, Olaf, born at Symbio Wildlife Park in NSW

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Symbio Wildlife Park in New South Wales has welcomed a rare albino wallaby Joey from two red-necked wallaby parents. Only one in 100-thousand wallabies exhibit the genetic trait of albinism.

Transcript

00:00Red-necked wallaby, Joey Orloff, was born to parents Ariel and Pete over seven months

00:07ago.

00:08But it took zookeepers until six weeks ago to learn that he's in fact albino.

00:14Albinism is a genetic condition caused by a mutation that affects the production of

00:18melanin, the pigment responsible for colouring the skin, fur, eyes and feathers of animals.

00:25Park authorities say albinism is rare, occurring for every 1 in 17,000 animals and more specifically

00:321 in 100,000 wallabies.

00:35Because of his pale fur and pink eyes, zookeepers say it didn't take them long to choose him

00:40a name.

00:41So yeah, as soon as he poked his little face out of the pouch, I think we all looked at

00:42one another and knew what his name was going to be.

00:43Yeah, we weren't going to argue that point at all.

00:50Wallabies in wildlife parks like this one can live up to 15 years old, compared to 13

00:55years in the wild.

00:56Orloff will live his life alongside the 40 other wallabies here in Helensburg and isn't

01:01expected to experience any health issues due to his albinism.

01:06He's now strong enough to emerge from his mother's pouch to greet guests here just

01:09in time for the school holidays.

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