Phillips Park Zoo in Aurora welcomes its first two wallabies

The Phillips Park Zoo in Aurora has two new young residents.

Wally and Bindi, two young wallabies just over a year old, moved into the zoo on Aug. 5, becoming the zoo’s first marsupials, city officials said Thursday.

The pair is set to live at the zoo for the rest of their lives, which can last between 10 and 15 years, said Anna Borozenets, zoo manager.

Bindi, a young female wallaby, is inquisitive, while Wally, a young male wallaby, is more cautious and likes to look at things from afar, Borozenets said.

The two wallabies are mates, and Wally is very devoted to Bindi, said Borozenets.

“They’re very sweet, very social, at least with our zookeepers, and they’re really enjoying being out with the public,” Borozenets said. “They seem to be adjusting really, really nicely.”

The wallaby duo was retrieved from Santa’s Reindeer Ranch, a U.S. Department of Agriculture-licensed facility, on Aug. 5.

Borozenets said she had been contemplating what animal to bring into an empty exhibit space at the zoo when she heard about the wallabies through a professional connection. She said she has worked with wallabies throughout her career and found they’re enigmatic and exciting for visitors.

“I knew they would be beneficial to the community and exciting for people,” she said.

Borozenets said due to the wallabies’ low maintenance and the exhibit already existing, the newcomers have not cost the zoo all that much. She said that as usual, new animals bring an increase to food and veterinary costs, but those costs were planned for in the zoo’s current budget.

Wally and Bindi can be found at the zoo in the exhibit space between Tito the lynx and the zoo’s barnyard. Phillips Park Zoo, at 1000 Ray Moses Drive in Aurora, is open Thursdays through Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., according to the city’s website.

City officials said as Wally and Bindi get accustomed to their new home, they will have the choice to be on exhibit or off exhibit in their dedicated indoor space. The wallabies will be increasingly more visible to the public as they settle in, officials said.

Bennett’s wallabies, also known as red-necked wallabies, are found in the forest and coastal shrub lands of Australia and Tasmania, according to city officials.

As adults, they weigh between 25 and 60 pounds and are herbivorous, eating grasses, herbs and roots in their native range.

awright@chicagotribune.com