European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 18, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Baby keeps moms jumping four zoo keepers adopt rejected infant Kangaroo baby Kangaroo Rufus growing up without a Mother plays with keeper Jamie Bojan. Washington Post Dayna Smithy Margaret Camp special to the Washington Post n body knows Why Rufus s Mother rejected him ii May have been the stress of Captivity a Lack of milk for her Little firstborn or her own immaturity but six months ago when a zoo visitor watched in horror As Rufus got the Boot even the National zoo s veterinarians had Little Hope for the 6-Inch, hairless Joey whose ears Lay Flat on his head and whose big Black eyes showed no Iris Quot i thought there was no Way he was going to make it Quot zoo keeper Tammy Kaluzney said of that hot May Day when Jan Lowstuter who oversees the zoo s Marsupial Herd rushed into the Grassy pen wrapped the squirming 3-month-od in her to shirt and carried him to safety in the zoo s Small veterinary clinic a things that come up Here Are either very sick or very Young Quot Kaluzney said of the Hospital facility. Quot you have the Choice Between euthanizing them or trying to save them Quot in this Case the zoo had no official policy but no Kangaroo had Ever been hand reared at the zoo today. Rufus is a healthy 18 inches Tail with every Chance of maturing into a functioning adult in the zoo s Herd of nine red kangaroos. His survival is a remarkable Story of commitment and love by four handlers who beat the Odds with round the clock feedings and laundry loads As Well As a daily ritual of Kangaroo antics that literally upended their lives and households with a portable incubator set at 90 degrees and a Batch of i by-18-Inch Cotton pouches left Over from when the zoo saved two wallabies several years ago the four women sol 1o work to raise the hand sized Rufus who weighed 28 ounces to prevent infection of his limited immune system the women wore fresh gowns gloves and masks to handle him and washed and bleached his pouches alter every feeding to keep up with his demand Lor formula every two hours Day and night they took urns taking rules and his incubator Home after work we Are Lucky it s a wonderful Opportunity that i Don t think any of us would Trade for anything. But of my gosh m s been a lot of sleepless nights Quot said zoo keeper Jamie to an thai she would learn was Only the halt of it the demanding part came a couple of times each Day when Between the regimen of their Normal jobs one handler would have to make time to hold Rufus in readers action Lin Frozen food Wasny told just unpopular it a 111, in Illy purchased a Frozen Stoul Lur s Huhl course t Lusia beet Corn pasta in the commissary at Rhein Mam a the tront of the package is marked "new1 imagine my Delight when i found a cents olt Coupon Tor 30 comls on another right course entree imagine my Surprise when i Lound that the Coupon expired april 30 1990 just Evn ily How old Are the Frozen food Piodo to being sold to us m the commissaries 7 Why am companies allowed to dump old products lha would not be on supermarket shelves in the United Stales or Lor that Mailer in Germany on unsuspecting shoppers in the overseas area 7 Why Are companies not required to Pul an expiation Dale on products that the average Peison can read the commissary will Tell us that the Vete Nunnun has checked and found the food Safe for human consumption frankly he can Check my dog l of leave Cotton Pouch and hop around the Hospital mimicking the movements he was supposed to be receiving from his Mother. The stimulation is crucial to both the circulation and digestion of a Young Kangaroo. Quot it Felt very silly we would do this Little rain dance hopping around and then dip to the left and right a a Bojan said and if All this weren t enough the team also had to worry about Kangaroo stress a real problem in Marsupial babies who Are prone to life threatening stomach ulcers the susceptibility put a Damper on disciplining Rufus Lor such antics As chewing on Theresa Cummings s antique mahogany dining table and escaping from his covered Playpen it also led to some interesting sleeping arrangements Quot the dogs would be in their room the cats in another room and Rulus would be in a spare bedroom Lowstuter said to Comfort him Cummings said Quot i would sleep ail night with him in the guest room. My husband and the dog would be in the master bedroom Quot the problem is that kangaroos Are diurnal which Means they Are most Active at dusk and Dawn being naturally curious and a terrific jumper Rufus ascended most of the furniture to the shocked Surprise of household pets and visitors. By late july the special care and tolerance appeared to be paying off until suddenly Rufus came Down Wilh bacterial pneumonia and his lungs filled with fluid that even heavy doses of antibiotics were hard pressed to shake my food alone it is not a matter of Safe it is a matter of being used by companies As a dumping ground or outdated products Peter w. Barber Rhein main a Germany be Charles m. Wiker director defense commissary Agency european Region replies we regret the delay in responding to your july 1991 letter however in the crush of consolidating the commissary systems into one Agency and moving no offices to a new location your letter was misplaced the Frozen dinner that you purchased was Mdemu More than a year old but the product has a 24-month shelf life because the product had not sold Well we had huge quantities of it occupying warehouse space that we wanted to free up in order to bring in More popular products pm this reason the manufacturer agreed to sell the product at an 80 percent discount and As an additional incentive offered a 25-cent shelf Coupon manufacturers Are not Quot dumping Quot products on commissary customers in overseas areas if a pro Diu i does not sell Well the grocer usually has the  to resell it to the manufacturer but once it has Ira Hod us Here in fume the Long shipping time and Toof  treatment required intravenous fluids and a Nebulizer attached to the incubator As Well As 24-hour monitoring As Rufus hovered near death. But soon Rufus was Back to himself Downing his usual hefty portions of Alfalfa pellets and fruit and vegetables including carrots grapes Sweet potatoes and kale and looking to his human mamas for care and company adult kangaroos Cummings explained can be dangerous. Although Speed is their main defense they can hop 20 Mph they sometimes will stand and fight with their powerful Back feel and can rip open a person with a slice of their Loe but at 11 months of age. Rufus loves to play and act up. His favorite Man Euver is to hop Forward and kick both feet to the Side which his handlers have dubbed his Quot Toyota kick Quot another is to run and Careen into a somersault. It could be another six months before Rufus is ready to join the other kangaroos including a Young female about his age in the Grassy pen. After a few months there he soon will forget the humans who worked so hard to save his life even today in the presence of a reporter Rufus appears to have had enough of the people in his midst. Alter an hour out and about he turns away from his visitors and runs Back to his Pouch a suspended from a door to imitate mom a and in one continuous movement he grabs the Edge with both front paws takes a wild leap and dives in headfirst it impractical to Send unpopular products Back your question regarding the requirements for expiration dates on products is a matter for the food and drug administration and we urge you to address this question to them we would also like to assure you that the term Quot veterinarians is a misleading one when applied to our food inspection personnel they Are highly trained in food inspection techniques and their vigilance frequently surpasses that found m the commercial grocery Industry to write us _ readers action line is the readers Quot court of last resort Quot striving to answer some of the questions about life overseas in a military environment or questions about policies and guidelines when other avenues for answers Are not readily available. If you have a question and Don t know where to turn for the answer write to readers action line co the stars and stripes unit 29-180. Apo a 09211 All letters must be signed and preference will be Given to those seeking Ido Malion of general interest to our readers Page 16 a the stars and stripes saturday. January 18, 1992