kangaroo

Alex's Kangaroo Page

Kangaroos are marsupials, or furry mammals with an abdominal pouch, that give birth to undeveloped young. The baby kangaroo finishes the development in its mother's pocket-like pouch on her belly for the first several months. Kangaroos belong to the marsupial group known as macropods which means large foot. Kangaroos live in Australia. Did you know that an adult male kangaroo can stand about six foot tall and weigh about one hundred pounds? An adult female kangaroo only stands to about four and a half feet tall and weighs less than sixty pounds.

A baby kangaroo is called a joey. It is born hairless, blind, and deaf; and what is really amazing is it still finds its way into its mother's pouch. Scientists think joeys smell their way into its mother's pouch, but they do not know for sure. In its mother's pouch it latches to the mother's milk gland, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Even after the joey grows and leaves the pouch, the joey will still return to suckle, or to drink its mother's milk.

      Kangaroos rest in the shade during the day and search for food at night. Sometimes kangaroos are active all day, but only if the temperatures are cool. A kangaroo feeds on grass and small plants. Usually kangaroos feed in small groups, but on the odd occasion, they feed in large groups called mobs. The red kangaroo is also called a macropus rufus. Scientists have found fossils of kangaroos that were about thirty million years old.
     When Kangaroos are fighting, they can balance on their tail so they can kick the other kangaroo with both hind legs. Nothing but the tail is touching the ground. When a kangaroo walks on all four legs, the tail supports it. They also use their tail for support when they stand in an upright position. A red kangaroo's tail can grow up to three feet long.
     Did you know that the tree kangaroo is the only kangaroo with canine (K-9) teeth like a dog? Even though the tree kangaroo has sharp canine teeth, it still eats plants. The tree kangaroo is the largest kangaroo out of all of them.
     Did you know that a mother kangaroo has a bone in her pouch? The bone looks like a fork. Until now, I thought the pouch was an extra bit of tough skin. Even I have learned something new.
     Kangaroos can hop thirty feet in one leap and can hop up to speeds of thirty miles per hour. A kangaroo's strength is five times that of a human.      Kangaroos have two enemies: human beings and wild dogs, which are called dingoes. Kangaroos are being protected throughout Australia by the law so you can't get away with killing them. Unfortunately, in some areas of Australia, you are allowed to hunt kangaroos if they are being a pest. They are also hunted for food or for fur. You can only hunt kangaroos if you have a hunting license.

Kangaroo Picture Thanks to Web Roo See more Kangaroo Pictures at this site http://vger.rutgers.edu/~tempest/index.html

COOL LINKS The Marsupial Museum Julia's Kangaroo Page Australian A-Z Animal Archive Kangaroos! The Kangaroo and Wallaby Gallery Suggested Readings

Augue, Michael L. "Kangaroo." World Book Encyclopedia. 1994.

Chinery, Michael. "Kangaroo." Encyclopedia of Animals. 1994.

de Beer, Sir Gavin, ed. (et. al.) "Kangaroo." Encyclopedia of The Animal World. 1977.

Kids Discover "Australia." Volume 6 Issue 1. January 1996.

Page by Alex
April 16, 1999

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