Woman Raises 'Roo After Rescue

Deserted Joey Finds New Pouch with Wildlife Center Manager

(CBS)  When a three-month-old kangaroo was found deserted by his mother at the Global Wildlife Center in Folsom, La., manager Christina Cooper's own maternal instincts kicked in.

She gathered the baby kangaroo, also known as a joey, in her arms and made him her own.

His name is Skippy.

Cooper said on "The Early Show" Tuesday, she found Skippy alone and furless in an area of the wildlife center where about 40 red kangaroos live.

He weighed almost a pound, she said, and was unable to keep himself warm.

"I waited about an hour and a half hoping that his mother would pick him up. After that, I knew I had to step in and help," she told CBS News.

"When I first got him, I ripped a sleeve off of my sweatshirt to create a pouch for him and then I wore a fleece and put him inside for about two days."

Since then, the two have been inseparable. Cooper has been carrying six-month-old Skippy on her shoulder in a canvas carryall that serves as a makeshift pouch.

"I am with him 24 hours a day," she said.

Cooper said Skippy's mother expelled him from the pouch for an unknown reason, but added sometimes when a female is stressed or chased by a predator, she may expel her joey.

Cooper has now taken the full time job of raising a baby kangaroo, feeding him wombaroo, a milk replacement formula for kangaroos, every four hours, and chronicling his every move.

He's expected to leave the pouch in October, but "Early Show" co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez remarked Cooper seems very much attached, and asked if she will be able to cut the cord when the time comes.

"It's going to be difficult," Cooper said. "I still have six or seven months to work out my issues. Hopefully by that time, he'll be ready to go back too."


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