Kangaroos

There are no kangaroos in Austria.

To see how many kangaroos there are in Australia, see the related question.

Joeys are the generic name for the young of any marsupial. Marsupials are characterised by giving birth to very undeveloped young, unlike placental mammals. The joeys are blind, hairless and must stay attached to their mother's teat for several months while they continue the development that placental mammals have in the womb.

Depending on the species, joeys may stay in the pouch for a few weeks or a few months. the larger marsupials keep their young in the pouch for longer.

Some examples:

• Koala joeys stay in the pouch for 6-7 months.
• For the animals most commonly recognised as kangaroos (e.g. Red kangaroos and Grey kangaroos), the average amount of time the baby kangaroo, or joey, stays in the pouch is about 7 - 8 months.
• The antechinus may keep its joeys in the pouch for only five weeks.
• Sugar gliders joesy stay in the pouch for around 3 months.

The joeys tend to maintain access to the pouch for another month or so after they have emerged.

There are many special and unusual features that a kangaroo has.

• The mother kangaroo spends most of her adult life pregnant, but in drought times, she has the ability to indefinitely "freeze" the development of the young embryo until food sources are replenished.
• The mother can also produce two different types of milk to suit the needs of two different aged joeys. She might have a more mature joey that spends less time in the pouch, while a very young embryo has attached itself to a teat. Each joey has different milk requirements - which the mother is able to supply.
• Kangaroos are able to travel long distances at a high speed, expending very little energy. They are very energy-efficient, and this is linked directly to the physical action of bringing their hind legs up with each hop. Every hop literally refills the lungs.
• Kangaroos have large, strong tendons in their hind legs which act as "springs". The springing motion requires less energy than running does, so kangaroos are able to bound for longer distances than other mammals with the standard four legs can run. They have strong back legs and elongated hind feet for bounding.
• Kangaroos are strong swimmers. Many parts of Australia are subject to seasonal flooding rains, but the kangaroo's body shape does not prohibit it from swimming. In fact, kangaroos have been observed swimming to offshore islands off the southern coast. This is the only time the kangaroo's hind legs move independently of each other.
• Kangaroos are more active in the cooler hours of the early morning and the late afternoon. During the heat of the day they are more sedentary, lying around quietly and chewing their cud.
• The teeth of the kangaroo are continuously being worn down by the tough grasses they eat. Instead of continuously growing, once a kangaroo's front teeth are worn down completely, they fall out, and the back teeth move forwards to take the place of the worn front teeth. Kangaroos have four such pairs of chewing teeth.
• Kangaroos have the ability to hear very well: kangaroos can twitch their ears independently around to determine the direction of specific sounds, much as a cat does
• They have long, strong tails for balancing.

Kangaroos are found throughout the Australian continent, as there are over 60 species.

• Eastern Grey kangaroos are found in the eastern half of Queensland, most of New South Wales and Victoria and small areas of South Australia.
• Western Grey kangaroos are also found across the southern regions of Australia from western Victoria and NSW, and south-western Queensland to the mid-latitudes of Western Australia.

  Grey Kangaroos are particularly common along southern coastal Australia and, contrary to what some people believe, seem to enjoy swimming, often commuting between the mainland and offshore islands. .

• The large Red Kangaroo is found throughout the interior of the continent - not the dry desert but in semi-arid desert areas - and on part of the Western Australian coast.
• The habitat of the tree kangaroo is rainforest and dense forest in northern Australia (as well as the islands of New Guinea).

Kangaroos' habitats include grasslands, mulga scrub, bushland (not too dense) and open plains - wherever there is food, and shade trees. Red kangaroos prefer this type of habitat. They will generally not frequent rocky slopes and hillsides, this being more territory for wallabies and wallaroos. However, they will shelter under cliffs and in caves in bad weather.

Some members of the kangaroo family can be very small, and these smaller members dig burrows in desert and semi-arid areas, living on insects, larvae, fungi and plant roots. Larger kangaroos, such as the reds and greys, do not live in the desert (despite what some overseas websites report) because there is insufficient food there.

Wallabies, another member of the kangaroo family, are commonly found in scrubland and bushland throughout Australia (including Tasmania), and rock wallabies and wallaroos may be found in hilly, rocky areas. Wallabies have been introduced to New Zealand, but any sightings there have been of kangaroos remain unconfirmed. Some zoos in other countries have licences to have kangaroos in captivity.

Mammals include any of various warmblooded vertebrate animals of the class Mammalia, including humans. They are characterized by a covering of hair on the skin and, in the female, milk-producing mammary glands for nourishing the young.

Some Mammals include:

• Humans
• Primates such as apes, chimpanzees, gorillas
• Dogs and others of the canine family, e.g. wolves
• Cats and other felines, e.g. lions, ligers, panthers
• Cows and other farm stock animals, e.g. buffalo, sheep, pigs, goats
• Horses and other equines such as donkeys and zebras
• Koalas and other marsupials such as kangaroos, koalas, Tasmanian devils, wombats, etc
• Marine mammals, e.g. whales, dolphins, porpoises
• Squirrels and other rodents, such as rats, mice, prairie dogs
• Bears, e.g. black bears, pandas, polar bears
• Monotremes (egg-laying mammals) which include just echidnas and platypuses
• Hippopotamuses
• Rhinoceroses
• Insectivores such as moles, shrews and hedgehogs
• Flying mammals: bats
• Anteaters and armadillos

Tree kangaroos, like other mammals, reproduce sexually. They are able to breed all year round. Female kangaroos have two vaginas, or what are called paired lateral vaginae. These are for the purpose of transporting the sperm to the womb, but there is a midline pseudovaginal canal for actually giving birth.

The gestation period lasts 39-45 days, longer than other members of the kangaroo family. Baby tree kangaroos are the size of a jellybean when they are born. The female takes up the birthing position with her tail between her legs. The joey is born blind and hairless. It is born from the female's uterus and then climbs up the outer fur of the female and into the upward facing pouch where it attaches itself to a nipple until it becomes stronger. The mother tree kangaroo licks a path to the pouch to help guide the joey. Joeys live in their mother's pouch and feed by drinking milk. The teat swells in the joey's mouth, securing it in place so it cannot be accidentally dislodged. The joey will usually stay in the pouch for about 8 months.

Kangaroos are native to Australia. Tree kangaroos can be found on the island of New Guineaas well as in the far northern rainforests of Australia, but that is the only variety found naturally anywhere else apart from Australia.

Kangaroos' habitats include grasslands, mulga scrub, bushland (not too dense) and open plains - wherever there is food, and shade trees. Red kangaroos prefer this type of habitat. They will generally not frequent rocky slopes and hillsides, this being more territory for wallabies and wallaroos. However, they will shelter under cliffs and in caves in bad weather.

Some members of the kangaroo family can be very small, and these smaller members dig burrows in desert and semi-arid areas, living on insects, larvae, fungi and plant roots. Larger kangaroos, such as the reds and greys, do not live in the desert (despite what some overseas websites report) because there is insufficient food there.

Wallabies, another member of the kangaroo family, are commonly found in scrubland and bushland throughout Australia (including Tasmania), and rock wallabies and wallaroos may be found in hilly, rocky areas. Wallabies have been introduced to New Zealand, but any sightings there have been of kangaroos remain unconfirmed. Some zoos in other countries have licences to have kangaroos in captivity.