Kangaroo
BELLA ROO, a red kangaroo, came to us at 8 months old in July 2013 from an animal facility a few hours north. She joined Animal Tracks as an educational ambassador and now shares her home with Kobe, another red kangaroo. Bella loves leaving their enclosure to hop around the compound, often teasing her fellow furry and feathered friends!
Some fun facts about the largest marsupials on earth: Red kangaroos are the largest species of kangaroo. They can survive on very little water and are impressively resilient. Males are usually reddish in color with a white face and belly, standing up to 6 feet tall and weighing as much as 200 lbs. Females are smaller and tend to be bluish-gray. Interestingly, most kangaroos are left-handed. And a group of kangaroos is called a mob!
ORDER: Diprotodontia
FAMILY: Macropodidae
GENUS: Osphranter
SPECIES: Rufus
Kangaroos are iconic symbols of Australia. The red kangaroo is the largest marsupial alive today. The male stand 6 feet tall on his tip toes, the female 4 feet. He is the protector, and she is the nurturer. They live in a mob or group of about 10 animals most of which are female and joeys. There is only 1 jack and maybe a few immature young males. They are grassland grazers and prefer dawn and dusk due to favorable temperatures. Kangaroos can jump 6 feet high but their real strength in in the long jump, which can be 30 feet. Kangaroos are the only large mammal to hop as their main form of locomotion. They breed year round and the female ism pregnant for only 32 to 34 days. The baby is born the size of a pinto bean, blind and no back legs. It follows a scent path to mamas’ pouch, finds a milk source and latches on for about 70 days. The joey will start to take short excursions from the pouch at about 5 months old. Mama will nurse the baby for a year but at 8 months the baby is ready to join the family group outside the pouch. Females mature at different times depending on drought. In good water years they start breeding around 18 months but during drought they will wait sometimes up to 5 years of age.
Threats
The biggest threat to kangaroos is humans. Though they bring in great revenue for Australia, some think of them as pests or hunt them for their meat and leather.
Conservation Status
LC - Least Concern