Jarrah is a six month old Quokka joey which is currently being hand-raised here at Taronga by Keeper Kristal. At this age, the joey’s tiny and needs full time care.Kristal was delighted to become surrogate mum after the youngster left its mother’s pouch too early. For the next few months, wherever Kristal goes, so will Jarrah. During the day Jarrah stays in a specially set-up nursery with a bag that mimics a pouch which the youngster can hop in and out of, but while Kristal is doing office work Jarrah  likes to be extra close, curling up near Kristal’s chest. This makes little Jarrah feel extra secure.At night time Kristal takes the joey home with her. Jarrah keeps Kristal on her toes, running around the house between her feet. Once Jarrah  has used up all that extra bounce, the joey’ll curl up on her shoulder and give her a good lick on the face before nodding off.As any new parent knows, caring for an infant can be exhausting. Even after a full day at work caring for the animals at Backyard to Bush, Kristal is up during the  night to make sure the joey gets a bottle.Kristal will continue nursing until Jarrah  is old enough to join the two other hand-raised Quokkas, Poppy Lou and Autumn, at the Education Centre. Jarrah will grow up to have an important role at the Education Centre meeting children so that they can understand  the importance of looking after our wildlife first-hand.  Jarrah the Quokka Joey