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Kangaroos
Published by Wildlife Education, Ltd.
12233 Thatcher Court, Poway, California 92064
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Copyright © 2000 hardbound edition by W ildlife Education, Ltd.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.
Printed in U.S.A.

ISBN 0-937934-80-1
Kangaroos
Series Created by
John Bonnett Wexo
Written by
Beth Wagner Brust

Zoological Consultant
Charles R. Schroeder, D.V.M.
Director Emeritus
San Diego Zoo and San Diego Wild Animal Park

Scientific Consultants
Michael Archer, Ph.D.
Professor of Biological Sciences
University of New South Wales, Australia

Karl Kranz, M.A.

General Curator
Philadelphia Zoological Gardens

HIGH LIBRARY
THURGOOD MARSHALL
45 CONKLING ST.
SAN FRANCISCO.
CA 9A124
Art Credits
Paintings: Darrel Millsap Page Twelve: Middle Left, Tom St.u k &
Associates; Bottom Left, Cristma Smith (Wildlip
Additional Art: Page Ten: Lower Left, Elizabeth
Education, Ltd.)
McClelland; Bottom, Walter Stuart; Lower
Middle, Charles Byron; Lower Right, Walter Stuart Pages Fourteen and Fifteen: Gerry I'llis (JEUti

Wildlife Collection)
Page Eleven: Upper Right, Elizabeth McClelland
Page Sixteen: Tom MtHugh (Photo Researchers)
Page Thirteen: Top Center, Biruta Akerbergs
Hansen; Upper Right, Walter Stuart Page Seventeen: Top, Francisco En/c ifirua
Coleman, Ltd.); Lower Right. Chip Iscnhart
Page Eighteen: Middle Left, Biruta Akerbergs
Hansen; Lower Left, Elizabeth McClelland
(Tom Stack & Associates)
Page Nineteen: Penny Twcedic U ( imdftn Camp
Page Nineteen: Top Center, Charles Byron;
Upper Right, Charles Byron
& Associates)
Page Twenty-one: John Shaw (JBrua CokmOH,
Page Twenty: Top, Douglas Schneider
Inc.)
Pages Twenty and Twenty-one: Bottom, Biruta
Pages Twenty-two and Twenty-three Des
Akerbergs Hansen
&Jen Bartlett (limn Coleman. Inc.)
Page Twenty-one: Upper Right, Walter Stuart;
Lower Right, Biruta Akerbergs Hansen

Photographic Credits
Front Cover: C. Andrew Henley (Auscape
International)

Pages Six and Seven: John Cancalosi (Bruct

Coleman, Ltd.)

Page Eight: Upper Right, Bill Bachman (Photo

Researchers); Lower Left, Jean-Paul Ferrero (Ardea)

Page Nine: Fritz Prenzel (Bruce Coleman, Ltd.)

Pages Ten and Eleven: Top, Cristma Smith (Wi/dl/Ji

Education, Ltd.)

Page Eleven: Top, Phil A. Dotson (Photo

Researchers); Right, Veronica Tagland (Wildlife
Education. Ltd.)
 1

Contents
Kangaroos are fascinating animals 6-7
The earliest ancestors 8-9
Kangaroos leap at top speeds 10-1
Baby kangaroos, or joeys 12-13
Kangaroo mothers 16-17
Timid and gentle 18-19
During the last 200 years 20-21
Kangaroos - activities 22-23
Index 24
 ^^^^angaroos are the largest hopping animals in
the world! They are native to Australia, New
-M. .^L Guinea, and nearby islands. Nearly a century
ago some were introduced into New Zealand.
Kangaroos come in many sizes and varieties.
The biggest and best known of these are the red and
the gray kangaroos. These are the kinds usually seen
in zoos and animal parks.
Kangaroos are hard to describe. They graze like deer,

hop like rabbits, and go without water like camels.

But they are not related to any of these animals.
Like koalas and opossums, kangaroos belong to a unique
group of mammals called marsupials, which carry their
young in special body pockets called pouches. Most of
the mammals in Australia are marsupials, and the big
kangaroos are the largest marsupials in the world!
Kangaroos, wallaroos (medium-sized kangaroos),
and wallabies (small kangaroos) are herbivores, or plant
eaters. The different kinds of kangaroos eat grass,
shrubs, leaves, stems, and shoots. They get most of their
water from the plants they eat, which is good because
water is very scarce in parts of Australia. Some kangaroos
can go for weeks, even months, without water!
Heat, drought, and hunger are the biggest natural
threats to kangaroos that live in arid regions. In the wild,
life expectancy for the big kangaroos is about 15 years,
although they can live to be 20 years old. The smaller
species have shorter life spans.
Some kangaroos live in large groups called mobs.
For those that graze on the open plains, there is safety
in the mob. If one kangaroo spots danger, it warns the
others, much as plains animals in other parts of the
world warn their herds. Kangaroos give their warning
by loudly thumping the ground with their large feet,
similar to a rabbit's thumping warning. Australians
call the leader of a mob "the old man." Male kangaroos

are known as "boomers," females are "does," and

youngsters are "joeys."
Current studies of kangaroos in the wild continue to
increase our understanding of these unusual animals.
The studies may also help to conserve endangered
kangaroos and to control the populations of kangaroos
that are sometimes considered pests or overpopulate
their own habitats.

Western gray kangaroo: — boomer, doe, and joey.

 There is

First of all, there

great diversity among the kangaroos.
are a great many kinds, or
species, of kangaroos —almost 60 of them.
They range in size from the one-pound musky rat

kangaroo, which measures about 14 inches from tip of

nose to tip of tail, to the human-sized red and gray

kangaroos that sometimes grow to 7 feet and weigh as

much as 200 pounds. Besides varying widely in size,
they also occupy many different habitats from the —
treetops to the ground, from the desert to the rain
forest. Like all animals, each species of kangaroo is

adapted to its special living space. Kangaroos fill the

same parts, or niches, of the environment that other The large kangaroos live in woodlands .mil
1
grasslands. Their habitat resembles
mammals fill in other parts of the world.
that of the hison and deer of North ' '

America, and die antelope,

zebras, and buffalo of Afriea.
The gray kangaroo doesn'l
Lumholtz's Tree lerate the arid
Dendrolagus lum vironment as well .is

red, so it prefer*
l&vvooded areas.

Musky Rat Kangaroo

Hypsiprymnodon moschatus

8
 Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby
Petrogale penirillata
Yellow-footed Rock Wallaby
Petrogale xanthopus

Rock wallabies can bounce up the

steepest rock face, just like mountain
goats or Africa's —
little klipspringer an
antelope that also Lives in rocky places.
You can tell where rock wallabies Live,

because the stones around their caves

are polished smooth from thousands of
years of wallaby traffic.

The small wallabies and pademelons live in a variety of

habitats. Some are well adapted to arid places, others
live in wet forests. Farmers and predators have driven
these smaller species from the open grasslands.

Bridled Naii.taii. Wallaby

Onychogalea fraenata

Banded Hare Wallaby

Lagostrophus fascia tus

9
 Here's a simple way to see for
yourself how a kangaroo uses iis

tail. First, put your legs togrtttff

and hop very fast down a hallway.
It's pretty hard to stay upright and
not lean forward, isn't it? Now,
stand on one leg and hold your
other leg out behind you. Hop ;is
fast as you can. See how much
easier it is to hop and keep your
balance with a "tail" behind you!

*'
'' $' fi
'

^^^"angaroos leap at top speeds to escape

M^L danger. But only their powerful hind legs
JL ^L. touch the ground as they bound from place
to place.To move faster, they keep their front legs
out of the way by holding them close to their chests.
And to keep their balance, they curve their long tails
slightly upward behind them. When traveling fast, a
kangaroo is in the air about 70 percent of the time!
In an emergency, some kangaroos can reach
speeds of 43 miles per hour, but they tire quickly.

However, at a slower speed of about 12 miles per

hour, they can keep hopping for hours.
Kangaroo* can hop for a \cr\ long

Ume without gelling (ired. Thc> t an

do this because lhc\ can store
ener© in special tendons in their
Most kangaroos have four toes hind legs, like the spring in a |x>go
on their hind feet. The two suck, these tendons release more
inside toes are joined, and more energy as the kangaroo
making a very handy grooming tool. Kangaroos hops along. The faster it hops, the
use this "comb" to smooth their fur and to less incrgy it Likes for the

scratch behind their ears. The extra-long kangaroo to keep going.

jU g^ middle toe has a sharp nail, which is

used as a weapon during fights.

Kangaroos don't always hop fast. When moving its front legs and tail, and swings its hind It p
slowly, a kangaroo shuffles on all four legs using forward. Then, while squatting on its hind K i>.

its tail as a sort of "chair." First, it balances on it moves its front legs and tail forward.
 Kangaroos use the five claws on the ir
Because much of Australia is
hot and dry, kangaroos must
front feet as a —
"comb" the same way
that you use a comb. They run their
be able to survive in extreme
heat. To keep from losing
claws through their fur to comb out
dirtand smooth any tangles.
body fluids, they don't sweat,
Kangaroos spend long periods
and they rest in shady areas
during the heat of the day.
grooming themselves. jf
Just beneath the surface of
their forearms, kangaroos
have many tiny blood vessels.
They lick these areas and as
the moisture evaporates, it
cools them.

Allkangaroos have large ears that

can be turned in all directions.
With their excellent hearing, they
can pick up sounds from far away.

The large grazing kangaroos

eventually grind down their
molar teeth. So the kangaroos
can continue to eat their diet
of tough grasses, these teeth
are replaced from time to time
as the animals age.

j
-
j
m
//

11
 m m aby kangaroos, or joeys, spend the first five or
six months of their lives hidden in their mothers'
M pouches. Warm, safe, and cozy, the pouch is like

cocoon where the baby goes in looking tiny, hairless, and

undeveloped, and comes out looking completely different.
As you will see below, this tiny newborn makes an
amazing journey across its mother's stomach to reach the
safety of her pouch. Once inside, the joey doesn't leave until
about five or six months later. It emerges as a furry, alert
youngster, eager to look around and greet the world, but
not totally ready to give up the security of the pouch. It

continues to travel in and out of the pouch for another

two to three months. Tree kangaroos remain in the
pouch for nine to ten months.

You've probably seen

lots of pictures ofbaby
kangaroos like this one
looking out of its
mother's pouch. But
what most people don't
realize is that this Newborn kangaroos art* mostly
cuddly looking joey was head, front legs, and paws with —
once a bare-skinned well-developed fore limb* and
—
baby blind, deaf, and shoulders. The} need a strong
making its way to its upper bod} to help them pull
mother's pouch using their way up from the birth canal
only instinct and its to the safet> of the pouch. They
sense of smell. also have needle-sharp claws on
their front paws t<i grasp their
mother's fur.

Even the biggest kangaroo is only

the size of a bumblebee at birth!
As soon as it is born, the
tinybaby begins its steep
Newborns weigh less than V25 of
climb. With no help at all
an ounce and measure under
from its mother, the
one inch long. If you were
newborn crawls in a BOafcl
this small when you were
likemotion through the
born, you would fit into the
dense fur. It c limbs paw
palm of your mother's
over paw, taking anywhere
—
hand with plenty of
r from three minutes to half
room to spare!
an hour to reach the pouch.

12
 y,],' A newborn gray kangaroo's
journey is only six inches from
the birth canal to the rim of the
pouch. Although that might not
sound far to you, it would be like a
human baby crawling ten feet up a
—
steep hill through tall grass, with
its eyes closed, and using only its
—
arms to reach its mother's lap.

ft

Ufa
/
3^
*****

The shortest route is the

safest for the fragile newborn.
Any extra exposure to hot
winds or the sun could kill it

before it reaches the pouch.

If a baby wanders off in the
wrong direction during its

trek, the mother does not

correct its path.

13
 ^^^angaroo mothers and their joeys are v
m^L close. By watching their mothers, joeys
JL. ML. how to graze, groom themselves, and
learn
look out for danger. And they copy almost everything
she does. Although kangaroos are basically quiet
animals, mothers and joeys often communicate by
clucking to each other.
When it's roughly six months old, a joey leaves the
pouch for the first time —usually by accident. Hie
youngster may fall out when its mother is cleaning
her pouch, or when it leans out of the pouch to graze.
At about eight to ten months, the joey outgrows the* "rCTrEjj
pouch for good. But it still pokes its head in from time
to time for a drink of milk. It stays at its mother's side
until it is about !
li years old and can fend for itself.

Young kangaroos love to

wrestle with their mothers.
They push at her with their
front paws and sometimes
use their hind feet to try to
"knock her off balance. Play
fighting helps the youngsters
learn skills they will need
when they grow up.

To get back into the pouch, a joey grips the rim with its

forepaws. It dives in headfirst, somersaulting until it is

head Hp again. Then the joey twists around to face out,

with its forearms resting on the rim of the pouch.

16
 Wallaby joeys are favorite
targets of wedge-tailed eagles.
Often hunting in pairs, one
eagle drops down and stuns
the victim, knocking it off
balance. Then the second
eagle swoops down, grabs
the dazed joey with its strong
talons, and lifts it away.

H*ttH,GH^
CO, CA 94124 ^^SSSSr

WTien chased by dingoes, Australian wild

dogs, a mother kangaroo will leap away
with her joey in her pouch. Sometimes,
in mid-flight, she releases the joey into
tall grass or bushes. Carrying less weight

helps the mother hop faster and escape

more easily. It may also save the joey's
life, in case she does get caught.

From the pouch, a joey can explore the world safely. It can
reach out and sniff objects. And it can pick up grass and
try to eat it. Later on, the mother will have to show her
joey which grasses to eat. Until it is able to graze on its
own, the baby kangaroo's main food is its mother's milk.

17
 When male kangaroos fight, they lock
forearms or jab at each other and try
to push each other off balance. As a
last resort, they will use their powerful
hind legs. But they are careful not to
slash one another with their sharp
claws —unless they mean business.

Timid and than

rather flee
gentle, kangaroos would
fight. And flee they
do, hopping fast enough to escape
easilyfrom most predators. However, the larger
male "boomers" are so heavy that they cannot
move as fast as other kangaroos. So instead,
they become fierce fighters, using the sharp
claws on their hind feet.

I^rge kangaroos are quite social.

They graze and travel together in

mobs, with anywhere from 2 to 5

members. Tree kangaroos, on the

other hand, along with many wallabies
and wallaroos, prefer to live alone.

W hen attacked l>y dingoes, a large kangaroo

may hop into the nearest body of water and
swim until it is chest deep. Th< n .i-> each
dingo approaches, the kangaroo clutches it

to its body, ausing the dingo to drown.

c

Some kangaroos enjoy grooming each other. Although

social grooming is not common among most large
kangaroos, some kangaroo mothers groom their young,
and some females groom each other. Such grooming
helps the group stay together, and stay clean!

Sniffing is a common social gesture

among marsupials. Many types of
kangaroos like to sniff each other's
noses to say a friendly "hello."

18
 1

When bounding at full speed, large kangaroos can jump 29

feet One gray kangaroo made a single jump of 44 feet —
longer than a school bus!

Most kangaroos are nighttime feeders,

0T
grazing anytime from dusk to dawn.
But if it's cloudy and cool, they also
may feed during the day. Those
kangaroos that graze in the open have
—
become more social the larger the
group, the more eyes there are to
watch out for danger.

Besides getting water from plants, kangaroos will drink

from streams and water troughs. They also dig holes to
find water if there is no other source. This creates a new
water hole, which helps other animals too.

If the water is shallow, die kangaroo

may first catch one dingo and pin it
down with its feet Then it will grab the
next one, and push it under the water.

19
 m V uring the last 200 years, European
m M settlers have made dramatic changes in

^t^^ Australia's landscape. Farmers and ranchers

have introduced sheep, cows, goats, horses, and many
other types of grazing animals. And they have turned
forests and woodlands into fenced pastures and
enormous ranches. With the disappearance of bushes
and tall grasses to hide in, many types of smaller
kangaroos have become endangered or extinct.
About two million years ago, a giant, short-fated kangaroo called
Large kangaroos are still common in Australia, but PrOCOptodon fioliah lived in Australia. It weighed 500 |>ounds or

there is concern that hunting—as well as drought and more and stood about 9 or 10 feet tall. Hie average modern
kangaroo stands about (i feet tall and weighs only H><) pounds.
human changes to the land— eventually threaten
will The giant kangaroo disappeared about 10,000 years ago-
probablv driven to extinction bv changes in its habitat.
the kangaroo population. Australians are struggling to
find ways to make room for both the kangaroos and
the ranchers' livestock.
 An ancient aboriginal
legend told of a huge
windstorm blowing
large, strange-looking
creatures through the
air.The animals tried
so hard to touch the
ground that their back
legs grew very long.
When they finally fell,
they quickly hopped
away. And that,
according to the story,
ishow kangaroos
came to Australia!

In the early 1 900s,

kangaroos were
pitted against men
inboxing matches.
Because kangaroos are
natural fighters, they
needed no training to learn
how to hit. But their
human opponents had to
be careful to avoid the
kangaroos' dangerous
—
claws one swift
kick from a big
kangaroo could
kill anyone.

Sheep ranching actually helps some kangaroos by

providing them with additional sources of water.
But some ranchers put too many sheep on a piece
of land, and they overgraze. This wipes out all
—
plant life and the land becomes useless for both
livestock and kangaroos.
 m m ig kangaroos are hardy animals. Their populations
m~^Z continue to increase, although many Australians have
^**M tried to destroy them as pests for the last two centuries.

So far, the large kangaroos replenish themselves rapidly.

This is not the case for the smaller kangaroos. They

have been driven from their shelters and feeding areas by
sheep, goats, rabbits, cattle, pigs, donkeys, and even
camels, — all introduced animals that graze and trample
the land and threaten to turn it into a desert.

Small kangaroos have also been killed by introduced

predators such as the red fox and the common house cat Of
the many kinds of kangaroos, about 20 are threatened species.
When animal species dwindle or disappear, destroyed
habitat is usually the cause. Tree kangaroos in New Guinea
are losing their trees. As large tracts of forest are removed
for mining, agriculture, and for lumber, these tree dwellers

are in danger.
In New Guinea, the local people hold the key to the
success or failure of conservation efforts. Aboriginal people
own much of New Guinea's land, and money from land
developers is a temptation. It is also a temptation to expand
a family-size farm plot in favor of farming large areas to sell

the crops. Butmany aboriginal people are returning to their

old ways. And some of their old styles of land use are being

combined with new methods that might allow healthy,

varied habitats and moderate development.
Australia is working hard to overcome its image as the
country with the world's worst extinction rate for mammals.
And it is trying to find a balance between humans and
kangaroos. There is increased interest in conservation.
Some communities have even installed speed bumps in

parks to protect wallabies from cars. Now, where kangaroo-

control measures are necessary, animals are culled based on
population surveys, so that not too many kangaroos will be
taken. Birth-control agents may be introduced into salt licks,

and ultrasonic devices that chase away kangaroos are being

tested at farms and on automobiles. Before, many cars were
protected by "roo bars" installed on the front. These helped
the cars, but didn't do much for the kangaroos.
Government agencies in Australia are making wildlife and
habitat recovery plans. For those kangaroos whose survival is

in jeopardy, scientists working with the World Conservation

Union are attempting to preserve and restore habitat to

reintroduce endangered animals into safe environments, and to

encourage captive breeding as a support for wild populations.

Red Kangaroo
22
 1 1 1 1

Index
Aborigines, 20, 22 Heat Pademelons, 8
Ancestors of kangaroos, 8 as a survival threat, 6 range of, 9
Antilopine wallaroo, 8 survival in, 1 1
Potoroids, 8
1
Australia, as regards kangaroos, 22 Heaviest kangaroos, 8 Pouches, 6, L2fl6
Herbivores, 6 Procoptodon goliah, 20
Banded-hare wallaby, 9 H mdfeet, as weapons, 10
Birth size of kangaroos, 12 Hole-digging behavior, 19 Quokka, 8
Boomers, 6, 18 Hopping ability, 6, 8
Boxing kangaroos, 21 Hopping speed, 10 Rain forests, as kangaroo shelters, 8
Bridled nailtail wallaby, 9 Hunger, as a survival threat, 6 Range of kangaroos, (>

Brush-tailed wallaby, 9 limiting of kangaroos, 20 Rat kangaroos, 8

Red kangaroos, 6
Claws Joeys, 6 Red-necked padcmelon, 9
in newborn kangaroos, 12 behavior of, 16-17
uses for, 1 early life of, 12-13 Sheep rani hing
Communication among exploring behavior of, 17 as afteccs kangaroos, 21 , 11
kangaroos, 16 protection of, 17 Shuffling style of movement, 10
Jumping distance, 19 Size, grouping according to, 8
Danger, warnings about, 6 Sniffing, purpose of, 18
Dingoes, attack by, 17, 18 Kangaroos, as the largest Social behavior of kangaroos, 1H
Doe kangaroos, 6 marsupials, 6 Speed of kangaroos, 10
Drought, danger from, 6 Studies alxmt kangaroos, need fur.

Leaders of kangaroo mobs, 6 Survival, groups as aids to, 6, 22

Eastern gray kangaroo, 9 Legends about kangaroos, 2
Endangerment of kangaroos, 20, 22 Legs, power of, 1 Tail structure, 10
Euros, 8 Life span of kangaroos, 6 Threats to kangaroos, 6, 22
Lumholtz's tree kangaroo, 8 Toe structure, 10
Feeding behavior, 19 Tree kangaroos, 8, 18, 22
Food, of joeys, 17 Macropodids, 8 Types of kangaroos, 6
Foot structure, 10 Male kangaroos. 16
fighting by, 18 Wallabies, 8
Gentleness of kangaroos, 18 Marsupial bones, 1 1 range of, 9
Gray kangaroos, 6, 8, 19 Marsupials, 6 Wallaby joeys, 17

Grooming behavior, 11,18 Mobs of kangaroos, 6 Wallaroos, 6, 8

Group structure, 6 Mother kangaroos, 16 Water, sources of, 6
Growth of kangaroos, 1 role in protecting joeys, 17 Wedge-tailed eagles, 17
Musky rat kangaroo, 8 White-striped dorcopsis, 9
Habitats of kangaroos, 8 World Conservation Union, 22
harshness of, 6 Newborn kangaroos, 12-13 Wrestling behavior, 16
Hearing ability, 1 New Guinea, efforts to help
kangaroos, 22 Yellow-footed rock wallaby, 9

"Old Man" kangaroos, 6

<