Funny Facts About The Kangaroos

Today’s animal is a very interesting and funny in many senses. They are a part of marsupials. In ancient days this animal was described as an animal whose head is like a dear, who can stand like human and which can leap like a frog. Today’s animal is The KANGAROO.  Let’s discuss some Kangaroo facts here:

Kangaroos naturally can be found only in Australia.

There are 4 types of Kangaroos which can be found:

The Red Kangaroos (Macropus rufus): They are the largest Kangaroo species. Found in arid and semi-arid area of the country.

The Western Grey Kangaroos (Macropus fuliginosus): they are slightly smaller than their other cousins and found only in the southern part of Western Australia.

The Eastern Grey Kangaroos (Macropus giganteus): they are most often seen in the eastern part of Australia and have the largest population amoung the 4 species.

The Antilopine Kangaroos (Macropus antilopinus): their far is some what similar to that of an antelope.

Kangaroos are herbivorous. Tree leaves, shrubs, grasses are their usual food. They don’t drink much water and get most of their water from their food.

Like cow and other ruminating animals, kangaroos have chambered stomach which helps them in digestion.

The average height of a kangaroo can reach up to 8 ft and can weight up to 100 kg.

Their hind leg is much larger and stronger than their fore limb.

The tail of a kangaroo is muscular at the base and it helps keeping balance while hopping.

The primary means of locomotion for a Kangaroo is hopping. This is the only large animal which uses this type of locomotion in their adult stage. The jump can be up to 30 ft in distance. The speed of this type of locomotion can reach up to 60 kmph. They are good swimmers but can not walk backwards.

They are social animal and lives in groups. Usually 10 to 100 kangaroos live in a group. In case of danger, they inform others by thumping their feet into the ground.

Kangaroos give birth to immature babies. A newborn baby can be the size of a rice grain to maximum of a honeybee, which then nursed in their mother’s brood pouch. The newborns stay in their mother’s pouch for 120 to 400 days.

The adult male Kangaroo is called buck and adult female is called doe. The newborns of a Kangaroo are called joeys.

The Kangaroos like all other marsupials have a pouch to rear their young ones.

The gestation period of a female kangaroo is very short 30 to 35 days. As the kangaroo can get pregnant immediately after giving birth, there can be more than one joey in the brood pouch. The milk meant for the newborn are of two types; one for the older one and another for the younger one.

The western grey kangaroos smell like curry.

The Kangaroo is often used as a symbol of Australia.

As per the IUCN Red List Kangaroos are in the list concerned category. They are hunted for their meat and skin.

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