I come from an island far far away, the name is Rottnest Island. It’s located on the South Western side of Australia. I have been used to getting anything and everything I want in life, no one, and I mean no one, is able to say no to me. With my cute little puppy dog eyes and my tiny little hands, the humans cannot resist me. All I have to do is smile for one of their stupid selfish photos and just like that, I have food being thrown at me like I’m a stripper. The best part of me living on this isolated island for extraordinarily long is the fact that we have ruled this land for longer than the humans have, therefore they respect my species and treat us well.
Despite making a living by relying on humans donating to me, my main goal and priority in life is taking care of my little babies… You thought I was small? Just wait until you see what lives inside of my pouch. Right around where a human's belly button is, I have a small little pouch that’s as small as a coin, and there lies my baby that I nourish. Just like me, they have darkish brown fluffy fur, similar to that of a squirrel; this allows me to blend in with other darkish brown surroundings. Some other cool physiological characteristics include my ability to hop like a kangaroo, run like a bunny, sprint like a squirrel, and eat like I have never seen food in my whole life. My hand to body size ratio is very abnormal in comparison to other animals. My movement and agility is so extraordinary, similar to that of a cat; when you touch me I feel like rubber, yet I will always land on my feet!
Once humans first turned up at Rottnest Island, it was almost as if the party was over sadly. It felt like I was in a movie and the sky got covered with clouds and a ton of rain started pouring down on the island. It was like the party was over, and now we had no say or control over what happens to us because surprise, surprise, the humans always end up ruling. Surprisingly, when the first group of humans stumbled upon us, they were more fascinated by how adorable and cute we were, so instead of killing us and eating us like they do with my fellow friends that are pigs and cows, they decided to use us for entertainment purposes. They loved us so much, they even made it illegal for them to touch our species… I guess the party goes on! It’s crazy how our species thought that we were doomed when the humans first showed up, but little did we know our lives were about to get a whole lot better. Back in the day, I used to be fighting and looking for my food until my last breath; I had to make sure my children ate before I did as well. But now, all I have to do is give them a cute little smile, pose, and just like that they give me a leftover banana peel. It almost feels as if I am a celebrity. King of the jungle who? King of the jungle me.
The reason behind the fact that we live primarily on this island is because our swimming abilities cease to exist. My body mass and weight is so large and fat, yet I have the tiniest arms you can possibly imagine, so it’s practically impossible for me to swim anything larger than a little pond. I just have to make do with what I have on this island, and hope we never run out of food. Because if I do, I am basically screwed over since I have nowhere else I am able to go. Sometimes, being a Quokka is a sad thing. We are destined to go extinct, we rely on humans to stay alive, and life can get pretty boring considering those circumstances. I hope that one day I am able to live comfortably without being reliant on another species to stay alive.
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