In 2005 Chris Barns set up a rescue center in Australia to help and nurture kangaroos that had lost their mothers. 10 years later he currently has 28 kangaroos as well as one camel.
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After receiving generous donations from around the world, Barns went on to build his own wildlife sanctuary from 2009-2011. The sanctuary currently houses 28 kangaroos and one camel.
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Barns’ career began as a bird keeper at Pearl Coast Zoo in Broome, Western Australia. Later he was a zookeeper at Tipperary in the Northern Territory. It was at Pearl Coast Zoo however, when Barns had his first experience with an orphaned joey:
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One day in 2011, Barns received a phone call from film director Andrew Graham-Brown, asking if Barns would be interested in doing a ‘taster tape’ about his life with kangaroos. The ‘taster tape’ is kind of like a move trailer made to entice broadcasters to commission a film or show. The tape Andrew and Chris made was well received by the BBC and they decided to fund a two-part series for Natural World.
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It turns out people cared about what Chris was doing because the two-part series lead to a BBC Two series entirely dedicated to Barns’ life with kangaroos called, Kangaroo Dundee. The show has just completed its second season.