With a canopy of branches dangling above her and the familiar faces of her caretakers below, a tranquil tree kangaroo can be seen traversing her enclosure, climbing from the branches to her favorite resting spots. Adelaide, the petite, furry, tree-climbing marsupial has called the zoo home for the last seven years. But on Sunday, she embarked on a new chapter.
Her move comes after the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, a national nonprofit, recommended she transfer so she can breed more efficiently. The request accompanies AZA’s longstanding efforts to manage the tree kangaroo population and support species growth.
Tree kangaroos are native to the cloud forests and mountainous ranges of Papua New Guinea in Oceania. There are 12 species of tree kangaroo, but the Matschie’s breed, Adelaide’s species, was first categorized as endangered in 1996, and fewer than 2,500 now live in the wild.
While Adelaide’s move is made in her best interest some Santa Fe zoo employees said they’re sad to see her go. For Dean Panttaja, a 26-year-old in his second semester of the Santa Fe Zoo Animal Technology Program, his best memories with Adelaide came with the everyday routines.
“I’ll miss her tenderness,” he said. “A lot of people say she’s skittish, but when you really get very close to her and you get to interact with her, she’s really sweet and tender, and I’m going to miss her for that.”
The zoo announced Adelaide’s departure on Instagram Sept. 24. The post invited potential visitors to say goodbye to Adelaide.
But ultimately, Panttaja said he agrees with the decision to relocate her. Tree kangaroos are built for environments with cloudy and chilly weather, he said, so Gainesville’s humid heat isn’t the best fit for her.
Panttaja added Adelaide’s move will also introduce her to a new habitat and audience.
“It’s very important that people understand how to take care of our animals in the wild by coming to zoos and seeing them in person,” he said.
A sheltered life
Adelaide was born in San Antonio, Texas, in December 2017, and moved to the Santa Fe zoo in 2020. Adelaide is part of a 32-year-old lineage of Matschie’s tree kangaroos at Santa Fe.
During her seven-year stay, she gave birth twice. Her two joeys, Modi and Kopa, were relocated to Cleveland and Miami in 2024 and 2026, respectively. Like Adelaide, the joeys were relocated to support conservation breeding efforts.
While her time at Santa Fe has already contributed to successful breeding, moving her allows that effort to continue elsewhere by pairing her with mates at other accredited facilities.
Santa Fe is just one of 24 North American zoos housing tree kangaroos, a distinction staff members like Kristen Turner, the zoo’s conservation education coordinator, said they value.
Santa Fe Teaching Zoo donates 50 cents of every entry ticket to conservation initiatives like the Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program. The zoo has raised more than $100,000 over the last 15 years.
“Once our students enter the workforce, they now have an experience that only 23 other facilities in the entire nation can say that they have,” Turner said. “On paper, that sets them up really for success to say they’ve gotten to work with some really unique species.”
But Adelaide’s impact on the zoo extended beyond the résumé.
Some of the staff’s fondest memories came when she gave birth to her joeys, giving the zoo a rare opportunity to welcome new babies.
“It’s such an iconic moment any time that there is a baby animal at the zoo, right?” Turner said. “But also, this gave us a way to make this a little bit engaging for guests, too.”
Cameron Wolf, an education specialist at the Santa Fe Teaching Zoo, said Adelaide’s new home is yet to be determined. After an AZA facility is chosen, veterinarians will need to test her health before transportation can be arranged.
Although Sunday marks the last day visitors will see Adelaide at the Santa Fe Teaching Zoo, she’ll need to go through quarantine before she can leave home. The quarantine can be anywhere from weeks to months.
“It’s been a really big privilege to contribute so much to tree kangaroo conservation during the time that the tree kangaroos have been housed here,” Wolf said. Scientists have learned most of the things that we know about tree kangaroos during that time, she added.
Although Adelaide’s time in Gainesville has ended, she may have more joeys right around the corner.
“She turns 9 this year,” Wolf said. “She still hopefully has plenty more years to go. She’s still so young that she will hopefully be a mother again.”
Contact Ellia Mytsa at emytsa@alligator.org. Follow her on X @elliamytsa.
Ellia Mytsa is a second-year Journalism major at the University of Florida and the Fall 2026 University Administration reporter. In her free time, you can find her singing karaoke, spending time with friends, at a farmer's market, or laying in the sun.
