The kangaroo is one of Australia’s most iconic animals, and most species are endemic to Australia. There are over 60 different species of kangaroo and their close relatives, with all kangaroos belonging to the super family Macropodoidea(or macropods, meaning ‘great-footed’).
"Roos" is a colloquial name used for any kangaroos or wallabies.
Kangaroos are herbivorous, eating a range of plants and, in some cases, fungi. Most are nocturnal but some are active in the early morning and late afternoon.
There are 47 varieties of kangaroo, ranging in size from the two-pound rock wallaby to the 6-foot, 300-pound red kangaroo.
They are the tallest of all marsupials, standing over 6 feet (2 meters) tall. The Red Kangaroo is the largest living marsupial and can grow to two metres (!). It weighs up to 90 kg (200 pounds).
Kangaroos are the only large animals that move by hopping.Kangaroos possess powerful hind legs, a long, strong tail, and small front legs. Thanks to their large feet, kangaroos can leap some 30 feet (9 meters) in a single bound, and travel more than 30 miles (48 kilometers) per hour. Kangaroos use their strong tails for balance while jumping. They cannot move backwards.
On land kangaroos can't move their hind legs independently, only together. But when they are swimming (they are good swimmers) they kick each leg independently.
The adult male Kangaroo is called buck, boomer or jack. Adult females are called doe, flyer or jill. Young kangaroos are called joeys.
They live in small groups called troops or herds (“mobs” by Australians), typically made up of 50 or more animals.
Female kangaroos sport a pouch on their belly, made by a fold in the skin, to cradle baby kangaroos called joeys. Newborn joeys are just one inch long (2.5 centimeters) at birth, or about the size of a grape. After birth, joeys travel, unassisted, through their mom’s thick fur to the comfort and safety of the pouch. A newborn joey can’t suckle or swallow, so the kangaroo mom uses her muscles to pump milk down its throat. At around 4 months, the joey emerges from the pouch for short trips and to graze on grass and small shrubs. At 10 months, the joey is mature enough to leave the pouch for good.
A female kangaroo can have three babies at the same time: an older joey living outside the pouch but still drinking milk, a young one in the pouch attached to a teat, and an embryo awaiting birth.
Female kangaroos enter into heat within a few days after giving birth they mate and conceive, but after only one week's development does the microscopic embryo enter a dormant state that lasts until the previous young leaves the pouch.
The development of the second embryo then resumes and proceeds to birth after a gestation period of about 30 days.
Kangaroos continue to be used as a resource, but only under strict government controls. All Australian states and territories have legislation to protect kangaroos
Most people think kangaroos are endemic to (live only in) Australia. In fact, several species of tree kangaroos and forest wallabies also live in Papua New Guinea.
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