How do kangaroo joeys grow up inside their mother's pouch?
Jellybean to Bouncer
How do kangaroo joeys grow up inside their mother's pouch?
A baby kangaroo is called a joey, and here is the strange and wonderful truth: it does most of its growing up not inside its mother, but inside a furry pocket on the front of her belly. The pouch is part nursery, part backpack, part cozy sleeping bag — and the story of how a joey fills it is one of the tiniest, bravest journeys in the animal world.
When a joey is born, it is shockingly small — about the size of a jellybean, pink, and not yet finished. Its eyes are sealed shut, its back legs are barely bumps, and it weighs less than a grape. It is, by any honest measure, far too little to survive out in the open. So nature gives it a place to keep cooking.
