**UPDATE 5/9: New theories emerge, hope wanes in search for missing baby wallaby at Detroit Zoo. Click for the latest.
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ROYAL OAK (WWJ) – Officials at the Detroit Zoo are searching for a young wallaby joey that has gone missing.
On Friday the zoo shared the first photo of a roughly 5-month-old joey that had just started leaving its mother’s pouch. Just two days later, zoo officials said on Facebook the baby went missing over the weekend.
Zoo officials said they were “heartbroken” to make the announcement.
The joey was last seen by animal care staff around 5 p.m. Saturday and was discovered missing from the Australian Outback Adventure habitat early Sunday morning.
Immediately, animal care staff began searching for the little one and officials say they are carefully examining the habitat and areas around it, while reviewing trail cameras and surveillance cameras all over the Zoo.
Officials aren’t sure yet whether the joey is a male or female because at this stage in its life it is only starting to leave the mother’s pouch for seconds at a time and is still nursing. Wallaby joeys can stay in their mother’s pouches for up to eight months at a time, according to the zoo.
“It is unlikely that the young wallaby can survive an extended amount of time away from the mother. We are reviewing every potential scenario and remain hopeful this joey will be found unharmed,” officials said Sunday.
On Friday zoo officials announced the 4-year-old red-necked wallaby Sprocket has given birth to her first joey.
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