It's not your average pet. Stretching out in the cat bed in northern NSW is 'Mr Bean', an orphaned Rufous Bettong joey who is thriving thanks to his human dad.
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Rufous Bettongs, also known as rufous rat-kangaroos, are about the size of a rabbit. The nocturnal marsupials are ancient relatives of the kangaroo.
Mr Bean was thrown from his mother's pouch during the annual macropod trapping and health check at Aussie Ark Barrington Wildlife Sanctuary.
At the time the 265 gram joey was entirely reliant on his mother for survival.
Wildlife Ranger Riley Tydeman stepped up to become the orphaned joey's 'surrogate mother'.
"Mr Tydeman was the natural choice as surrogate 'mum' having successfully raised a number of macropod joeys before, including Rufous Bettongs," Aussie Ark said.
"Mr Tydeman nourished the joey on a specialised macropod milk and replicated the mother's pouch with a cloth pouch to comfort and carry the tiny orphan.
The pair are now inseparable. Mr Bean enjoys nibbling Tydeman's hair and snoozing in a cat bed.
"Rufous Bettongs are ancient relatives of the kangaroo, possessing a pouch and bouncing," Aussie Ark said.
"But unlike the kangaroo, the bettong growls like a bear when agitated, and uses its semi prehensile tail like a monkey to collect leaf litter to build a 'drey' or den."
