Kangaroos

Kangaroos are one of the strangest and oldest species of animals on earth today.

The kangaroo is the best-known of the marsupials, which means "animals with pouches". The mother kangaroo has a fur-lined pouch between her hind legs in which she carries the young and nurses it. A young kangaroo lives in this pouch until it's a pretty good size.

When a baby kangaroo is born, it's a tiny, pink, naked mass, not much over an inch long. The mother places it in the pouch right after birth and the baby is quite helpless for some time. But by the time it's six months old, it's as large as a puppy. It rides around inside the pouch with its head sticking out. When the mother stops to feed on tree branches, the young baby pulls off leaves at the same time and feeds itself.

Even after a young kangaroo has been taught to walk and run by its mother, it likes to stay in the warm, safe pouch. And when danger threatens, the mother hops over to it, picks it up in her mouth without stopping, and drops it safely into her pouch.

A full-grown kangaroo stands about six feet tall. It has short front legs with small paws, and very long hind legs. These powerful hind legs enable the kangaroo to take jumps of 10 to 15 feet at a time. The kangaroo uses its big, long tail to balance itself when jumping.

In Australia, kangaroos are hunted because they kill the crops. But they also make good eating, and their skin produces good, strong leather. The kangaroo's protection is its speed and its ability to hear an enemy at a great distance. When a kangaroo is cornered by hunting dogs, it can seize a dog with its forefeet and kill it with one swing of its hindfoot.


Originally published in More, Tell Me Why, Arkady Keokum, Hamlyn. 1967. Page 106.