An orphaned joey, whose mother was hit by a truck in Western Australia's remote Mid West, has been adopted by a police officer with a passion for animals.
Constable Scott Mason, a former paramedic, said the young animal was brought into the Cue Police Station on Wednesday morning after being found in its dead mother's pouch.
"It's very dehydrated and skinny, but we're doing what we can," Const Mason told AAP.
The young officer - who moved to Cue six weeks ago - said he would have his hands full over the next few months as his wife just gave birth to their first child.
"Because it needs to be fed every three hours, it's going to be my little child basically as my wife's in Perth with our newborn," he said.
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"So she's got her newborn and I've got a little one as well."
Const Mason, the Cue community liaison officer, said he hoped to start a wildlife rescue centre in the remote town, with a population estimated at less than 300.
Police have asked for help from the public in naming the joey, who will need to be reared over several years before being released.
"I was going to name it after my son, but my missus wasn't too happy about that so we thought we'd put it out for everyone else to name the 'Cue Roo'," Const Mason said.
