KANGAROO
Kangaroos are plant-eating animals with large ears, strong back legs, short front legs, and long tails. They live mainly in the grasslands of Australia, but some are also found in its forests and desserts. Kangaroos can travel fast by hopping along on their back legs, using their tails to help them balance. A female kangaroo has a big pouch on the front of her body where her baby, or Joey, grows. Animals with a pouch for their young are called marsupials (mar-SOOP-e-als)
A joey's journey
>kangaroo have one joey at a time. At first the joey is about the size of a human thumb.
>A joey spends about six months inside the pouch, but drinks milk from its mother until it is a year old.
>When a joey is born, it makes its way to the mother's pouch, crawling through her fur and clinging on tightly.
There are many kinds of kangaroos. Some of the smaller ones are known as wallabies. The biggest are red kangaroos, which have reddish-brown fur and are the same height as a tall man. They live in hot, dry areas, in groups called mobs. They spend their days resting in the shade, licking their front legs to cool of. They feed in the evening, when it is cooler.
DID YOU KNOW?
>A joey will jump into its way to the mother's pouch at the first sign of danger.
>A red kangaroo can run up to 30 miles an hour. As it runs, it holds up its thick tail to help it balance.
>Male kangaroos fight one another to decide who is boss. The winner becomes the leader of the group.
Joey its size like a human thumb
Joey inside the kangaroo's pouch
