"Teaching people about the world in which we live."
"Teaching people about the world in which we live."
When you think "kangaroo" you probably think of the large animals of Australia that give birth to joeys, right? Well that is not the end of Kangaroos. Kangaroos live in Australia and the neighboring islands. They are also marsupials, which mean they have abdominal pouches that nourish their young.
Kangaroos, no matter what the size, all have a similar physical structure. They have heads shaped similar to those of sheep. Large, movable ears, reminiscent of mules. They crown that sheep-like head with a permanent defense net of hearing. Slender chests contrast sharply with their heavy hindquarters. The kangaroos’ short, forelegs are almost neglected when we compare them with the powerful hind-legs. Those hind-legs have tendons that act as a spring, which make the phenomenal leaps kangaroos are famous for accomplishing. Large kangaroos can cover the distance of nine meters (about 30 feet) in a single hop. Usually the hind feet have four toes, one of which has a sharp claw for defense. Their long, muscular tails are used for balance when sitting, walking, and leaping. The kangaroos’ tough hide is covered with soft fur.
Females have an abdominal pouch. The joey finds its way to the pouch unassisted where it resides for five to nine months. The pouch contains four mammary glands but only two of them are active at a time. The joey exits the pouch permanently at six to ten months depending on the species. The young continue, however, to suckle by sticking its head in the mothers pouch. This arrangement continues until the joey is twelve to eighteen months old.
The most famous kangaroos are the two most common species of large kangaroos. These are the Giant (or Gray) Kangaroo and the Red (or Wooly) Kangaroo. They are both approximately 1.5 meters [5 ft.] long excluding the tail. Large kangaroos are terrestrial, primarily vegetarian grazers. Shepherds complain about overgrazing of kangaroos, however, in reality, sheep are more often accused of destroying pastures.
The more unknown Wallaroo is stouter, while wallabies are a smaller species of kangaroos. They are about the size of rabbits. In fact, one species of wallaby is actually called the hare wallaby because of it’s close resemblance to the hare. The nail-tailed wallaby are named because of the horny nail on the tip of their tails. The rock wallaby is unusual in that it is nocturnal. Tree kangaroos are the only arboreal kangaroos. Their forelegs are almost as long as the hind-legs.
Wallabies range a variety of terrain from deep thickets with the rednecked wallaby to rocky crevice inhabited terrain with the rock wallaby. Wallabies are generally brighter, in color, than the large kangaroos.
Potoroos or rat kangaroos, as they are sometimes called, are small mammals that do in fact resemble jumping rats. Many of this little known string of kangaroos have prehensile tails. Though they remain primarily terrestrial. Two examples of these elusive animals are the long-nosed potoroo and the short-nosed rat kangaroo.
The Musk kangaroo is in a category all it’s own. This rat-like wallaby lives in the rain forest of northern Queensland. They differ from all other kangaroos by having five toes of each hind foot and an almost completely naked and scaly tail similar to that of the opossum.
Kangaroo Island near Australia is practically teeming with kangaroos. They are so plentiful that, like deer in America, they frequently get hit by cars. The only other danger, besides angry sheep farmers, is that hunting the kangaroo both for their meat and fur is still a popular sport in Australia.
Many people believe that the kangaroo needs and deserves our protection.
