Are kangaroos weak and helpless at birth?

Answer 1

Baby kangaroos or joeys do stay with the family, which is part of a mob of kangaroos. Male joeys must compete with older males, bucks or boomers, in the mob, and males who lose must leave the mob and find another.

Answer 2

At birth, a kangaroo joey is completely and utterly helpless.

However, it is not particularly weak for its size, given that it makes a long and arduous journey from the birth canal to the pouch, where it latches onto a teat. The journey is so long that the mother kangaroo must lick a path to the pouch to prevent the hairless, blind joey from drying out.

If the joey falls off the mother's fur during the journey, there is nothing that can be done, and it will die very soon. The mother is unable to pick it up.

Answer 3

Not at all. Kangaroos are blind, hairless, and can only crawl by instinct into their mother's pouch. Here, they latch onto a teat which swells in their mouth, firmly securing them in place until they can complete their development and become more independent.