Baby Wallaby Rescued From NYC Settling Into New Long Island Digs

MIDDLE ISLAND, NY — "Baby Joey" the wallaby is a long way from its native habitat in Australia, but she is doing just fine.

The young marsupial was taken to Save the Animals Rescue Foundation in Middle Island after being confiscated from a man who was charging tourists to take photos of her along the Coney Island boardwalk in Brooklyn on Friday night, John DiLeonardo, of Humane Long Island, told Patch on Sunday.

A Humane Long Island supporter spotted the exotic animal at Washington Square Park about two weeks ago, said DiLeonardo, adding, "So that put her on our radar."

He immediately notified the New York Police Department's Animal Crimes Investigation Unit, which told him that if he could find the owner, they would cite him, so DiLeonardo, an anthro-zoologist, began tracking him down the owner by doing Facebook searches and eventually saw he was in Coney Island.

The NYPD announced the citation on social media on Saturday.

The man was seen just after 5 p.m. after reports of a man on Riegalman Boardwalk West, near West 10th Street, police told Patch in a statement.

"Upon a brief canvass, officers located the marsupial, a wallaby, in the possession of a 22-year-old male," police said. "The wallaby was removed and placed into the care of the Animal Care Centers of New York City and the male was issued a criminal court summonses for possession of a wild animal."

While it is legal to have a wallaby in other parts of the state, including Suffolk County, it is illegal to have a wallaby in the City of New York, as it is considered an exotic animal.

Patch does not identify those charged with violations under state law.

In photos posted to the NYPD's Twitter feed, "Baby Joey" can be seen carried in a pouch — just like her mom would have done — but by an officer taking her away from the scene.

The wallaby seemed a little skittish after her ordeal given the circumstances, Di Leonardo said, but he expects she will begin settling in.

The STAR Foundation's Lori Ketcham said the wallaby is doing excellent, but that volunteers cannot yet tell if it is female or male because they are having trouble identifying its gender.

"We're trying not to pressure him," she said. "We're giving him space. He's very outgoing; friendly, but does not like to be held."

Wallabies stay in their mom's pouch till about six months old and then reach full adulthood at around two to three years old.

It's the first time that Ketchum has had a wallaby enter her charge, and she is finding out that her classes on marsupial medicine are kicking in.

Ketchum says that if the owner does not try to come and get the wallaby using legal means, the foundation will likely keep it as an education animal.

So far, she has been told the foundation can keep the wallaby.

"We will most likely keep it and build an enclosure large enough for multiple because we know that they're being sold here," she said. "People don't know what they're getting involved in but
you don't want this running around."

Ketchum has heard rumors that the animals are being sold on Long Island. They can run between $1,500 to $4,000 on the internet, she has heard.

But she says, though they are very cute, wallabies have their drawbacks.

For one, they are wild and act as such.

Unlike domestic cats and dogs, the marsupials urinate and defecate at will regardless of where they are.

Ketchum has been letting the wallaby wander around the foundation's hospital to get a feel for the operation, in hopes it will become more relaxed.

On a point of two, wallabies are very smart and have hands that they use with no problem.

If that rascally raccoon, or possum, keep getting into your garbage, forget about a wallaby — they will be looking for food also.

"They have little hands," she said, adding that the wallaby has already figured out the lock on the food bin.

"It saw me close it and went right over and used its little hands to open it up, and got the food out," she said. "It stuck its whole head in and had a mouthful."

The food bin needed to be removed from the room.

Ketcham expects at some point the rescue will have a contest to name the Joey and a fundraiser to raise money for a new enclosure.

DiLeonardo said that if there is any lesson to be learned, it's that wild animals are not pets or props.

"'Baby Joey' belongs with her mother in Australia. It doesn't belong in a cram bag on a Coney Island boardwalk," he said. "So that's really the overreaching message here ... wild animals belong in the wild. They don't belong on a boardwalk, and they don't belong in people's homes."