Australian Red Kangaroo
descriptive report
Red Kangaroo
The Red Kangaroo is an iconic Australian animal and is the largest living marsupial in the world. The Red Kangaroo has a naked muzzle with a black and white mark on the sides of the muzzle and a broad white stripe running from the corner of the mouth to base of the ear. Their fur is short and velvety to the touch. The front limbs of a Red Kangaroo are small and short with heavily-clawed digits. The hind feet are long and extremely powerful enabling the Red Kangaroo to travel at speeds as fast as 65kph. Red Kangaroos are herbivores, primarily grazing on grasses but also eat forbs and leaves of shrubs. The Red Kangaroo has the ability to survive when water is scarce. The herbage and foliage that the Kangaroo eats provides them with their water needs as well as their nutritional requirements. The Red Kangaroo inhabit grassland, shrubland, desert, woodland and open forest. These animals are mainly nocturnal, and sleep in the shade during the day. They lick their forelimbs to cool their blood by evaporation. The Red Kangaroo breeds all year round, however spring and summer tend to be times when most young are born. Females can delay the birth of their baby until their previous Joey has left the pouch. This is called embryonic diapause.Females have one baby at a time, which at birth is the size of a jellybean.