25 Amazing Kangaroo Facts that will surprise you | Amazing Facts 4U
- The word “kangaroo” has a unique origin. It is actually a word that comes from the original aborigines of Australia.
- There are over 60 species of Kangaroo.
- Male kangaroos are often called by several different names developed by the locals. Some call them Jacks, Boomers, or bucks.
- Females also have pet names that have come from the locals. They have been called does, jills, and flyers. Young kangaroos are often called “joeys”.
- Most people think kangaroos are endemic to Australia. But in fact, several species of tree kangaroos and forest wallabies also live in Papua New Guinea.
- The Red Kangaroo is the largest of all kangaroos. They live across the continent of Australia and prefer arid, open grassy areas. They travel in “mobs” of about 10 males and females and are led in their nomadic ways by a single male known as a “boomer.
- Red Kangaroos grow about 1.5 m and weigh up to 90 kg. Rat kangaroos are the smallest and grow about 25 cm and weigh 18 oz.
- Amazingly all kangaroos are herbivores. The grazers or browsers eat only plant matter. They don’t eat meat. The Kangaroo requires very little water to survive.
- Kangaroos are made for the environment of drier regions. They can go a lifetime without water as long as there is fresh green material to eat.
- Kangaroos have a very complex digestive system made up of individual compartments. In each compartment, it has microorganisms that help it digest the food that it is eating quickly and efficiently.
- Kangaroos are nocturnal and are very active during the early and late twilight hours of the night. They are not active in the day because of high temperatures.
- The amazing fact is that the newborn has no eyes or ears and weighs just 0.8-1 gram and in the largest species being just 2.5 cm (1 in) long. It looks like a transparent larva.
- Amazingly Kangaroos are the only large animals that move by hopping.
- The amazing fact is that a kangaroo can’t jump unless its tail is touching the ground for balancing, so if you lift a kangaroo’s tail off the ground, it can’t hop.
- A fully grown kangaroo can jump amazingly up to 25 feet ( 8 Mtrs) and bounce along at speeds up to 40 mph. It can jump up to 3 meters high.
- The amazing fact is that Kangaroos cannot walk backward. Due to the size of their high feet, they must turn left or right to move in the direction they desire.
- Kangaroos can jump 10 times more than humans, but kangaroos just can’t jump backward.
- Kangaroos have very strong hind legs and larger feet in the back. The tree kangaroo is the only exception it also has strong front legs to grab onto branches.
- Amazing thing is that on land kangaroos can’t move their hind legs independently, only together. But when they are swimming, they kick each leg independently.
- When pursued, kangaroos will retreat to bodies of water, so that they can hold their pursuer under and drown them in water.
- Kangaroos have pregnancies as brief as 33 days.
- A female kangaroo’s pouch may contain two babies born a year apart. The amazing fact is that it produces two different types of breast milk simultaneously. one teat will produce milk that is high in carbohydrates for the older offspring and the other produce fattier milk for the newborn.
- It takes 9 to 18 months until the young are covered in fur, and mature enough to leave the pouch for the first time.
- kangaroos mate again as soon after a baby is born, but the development of the second embryo stops, or rather, is paused after a few days. So in a way kangaroos are permanently pregnant. If a baby is lost, or if one has grown up and left the pouch, they can immediately give birth again.
- The amazing fact is that a female kangaroo can have three babies at the same time: an older baby living outside the pouch but still drinking milk, a young one in the pouch attached to a teat, and an embryo awaiting birth.
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