ORPHANED BABY KANGAROO GOES EVERYWHERE WITH HIS COMPANION TEDDY BEAR

Did you know, according to studies, that friendships can have a major impact on our health and well-being?

It is clear that everyone needs friendships, including our animal friends. Whether the friendship is coming from a stuffed animal or someone else, friendships help someone feel comfortable and deserves to be cherished and admired.That is exactly what Doodlebug, an orphaned baby kangaroo who lives the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia is doing with his unique friendship.

Doodlebug is being cared for by the wildlife rehabilitator Gillian Abbott. Ever since Doodlebug was still a baby and found orphaned in the wild, Abbot and her son Tim Beshara, and an adviser to Greens senator for Tasmania Peter Whish-Wilson have taken good care of him.

Doodlebug is in fact an Eastern grey kangaroo and has surely captured everyone’s heart after his photos hugging a teddy-bear were tweeted by Tim. “He may have fallen out of his mother’s pouch or his mother may have died,” said Beshara and added that “He was a couple of months old when he was passed onto my mother’s wildlife company WIRES. She has since nursed it back to health and it is now hopping around the forest and coming back for the occasional feeding or cuddle, as the image shows."

Although Doodlebug is big and healthy enough to return to life in the wild, he still needs a little more help from Abbot and the team. Abbott thought that Doodlebug, needed a friend to comfort and help him grow. She then gave him a fuzzy stuffed bear to snuggle up with and keep him company.

“They seem to respond to the toys much in the same way as a toddler. They treat it as a companion,” says Abbott. With the help of his bear, he will recover quickly and return to the wild where he belongs.