Handmade pouch holds wallaby

There's no place for an infant wallaby quite like its mother's pouch.

Or in the case of Sheila - an 8-month-old joey at Des Moines' Blank Park Zoo - a small, hand-crafted bag.

The zoo's animal keepers use the bag to simulate the natural nook Sheila lost a little more than a month ago. Her mother had a host of dental problems that left both wallabies malnourished.



Zoo officials decided to remove the joey from her mother's pouch in an effort to save both of their lives. The mother briefly rebounded, then got worse.

The mother wallaby was euthanized to end her suffering, said Kevin Drees, the zoo's animal care director.

Thus began a unique adventure in joey rearing at Blank Park Zoo.