In the life of animals, as in the life of people, unpredictable situations can occur. This happened in the summer of 2023, when a female red-necked wallaby (Macropus rufogriseus) named Oktava tragically died in Mykolaiv Zoo. There was a small wallaby in Octava's bag. In nature, death awaits such cubs, but Mykolaiv Zoo has very caring employees, and one of them is the animal care worker Oksana Olieynik, who became a "foster mother" for the small wallaby. The zoo staff took this wallaby for artificial feeding.

The name of the little one was selected for almost a month, and later it was decided to call him Syoma. At the beginning of artificial feeding, the weight of the cub was 900 g, today the weight reaches 3.6 kg. Every week, wallaby Syoma gains up to 200 g. Weighing is carried out every week, the weight and dynamics of the animal's development are monitored, the veterinarians of our zoo systematically monitor Syoma’s health.

Syoma's favorite food is goat's milk, oats, sunflower seeds, oatmeal and branches of fruit trees (apples, pears, persimmons and cherries). By nature, Syoma is obedient, playful, kind and always active.

This is the first successful case of artificial feeding of a small wallaby in Mykolaiv Zoo. It was not without difficulties, because the difficulty was to ensure a comfortable temperature regime in the new (real, soft fabric) bag for the cub, it should be the same as in the bag of the wallaby mother. But thanks to the love and care of "foster mother" Oksana, this issue was resolved. And the specialists of our zoo asked for advice from the employees of Kharkiv, Rivne zoos and the "High Park" zoo in Kiryat Motzkin (Israel), who have experience in artificially feeding wallabies. 

Employees of Mykolaiv Zoo hope for a happy future for the small wallaby. And it will be possible to see our Syoma no earlier than the summer of 2024.