Full growth of a red giant kangaroo. Big red kangaroo

The large red kangaroo is without a doubt the most famous inhabitant of Australia.

And although almost 250 years have passed since the travel of James Cook, when Europeans first saw this unusual animal, the kangaroo has been and remains the most popular animal of the Green Continent.

Moreover, it has become a symbol of Australia and its image is on the country's coat of arms. And this is not surprising, because only in Australia this animal, strange at first glance, lives.

There are several dozen species, they even make up a whole family of kangaroos, but it is the gigantic red kangaroo that is the largest both among them and in the entire class of marsupials.

This unusual animal attracts not only with its appearance, but also with its behavior and habits. This large, almost two meters tall animal differs in many ways from ordinary animals living on other continents.

Here are the main differences:

1. The usual posture of a kangaroo, unlike all animals, is not a horizontal, but a vertical position of the body. This is a kind of enlarged copy of our jerboa.
2. The body structure is also special, consisting in the fact that the kangaroo has a very developed lower body, especially long muscular hind legs. The front paws are capable of performing grasping actions.
3. Kangaroos also have a unique way of moving. They move with the help of only their hind legs in jumps, pushing off simultaneously with both legs. With this seemingly inconvenient way, they can reach speeds of up to 60 km / h.
4. Very high muscular strength. With an adult kangaroo weighing about 80 kg, its jumps can reach eight meters in length and three in height. The kick of the hind leg is so strong that it can kill an animal or a person with it.
5. A long strong tail, which the kangaroo uses as a third support for taking a vertical stance, as well as when jumping.
6. Due to the special structure of the body, despite the powerful hind legs, kangaroos do not know how to back up and move only forward.
7. Kangaroos are good swimmers. Moreover, while swimming, their hind legs work alternately, like in all animals.
8. Red kangaroo is a marsupial animal. When producing offspring, the cubs are born underdeveloped and they go through the main stages of development while being in a special device of the female kangaroo, which is a kind of bag formed by a fold of skin on her stomach. In this state, they are more than six months, until they become able to eat and move independently.
9. The female kangaroo is able to delay pregnancy, and moreover, to choose the sex of the future cub.

Adapting a kangaroo as a pet is not possible due to their mode of movement. However, from the very beginning of human acquaintance with kangaroos, people used them for their own purposes: kangaroo meat for food, and fur for making clothes. Kangaroo meat is very nutritious, it is considered more useful than beef or lamb, and for recent times it has become very popular, especially in high-end restaurants.

Since Australia is one of the countries where they are massively bred cattle, there is a problem with the fact that ruminant manure emits methane and nitric oxide, in quantities capable of being the culprit global warming. There is no such problem with kangaroos, since they emit several times less methane. In this regard, scientists are considering the issue of replacing cattle breeding with kangaroos. To this end, special kangaroo farms have already begun to be created. Kangaroo meat produced on these farms is in high demand in many countries of the world.

Large red kangaroos are considered very valuable species in almost all zoos in the world, there are always a lot of visitors near their enclosures. Moreover, due to their rather high intelligence, these animals are quite easy to train and therefore are used in many circuses, where they perform rather complex circus numbers. A circus number "boxing kangaroo" is generally considered unique.

The only enemies of the big red kangaroo are crocodiles, pythons, dingoes and humans. Kangaroos cope with dingo dogs by luring them into the water, where they drown them. From pythons and crocodiles they are carried away by their feet. A man without a weapon in a fight with a large red kangaroo can easily lose; against a man with a weapon, kangaroos are powerless.

Kangaroo hunting in Australia has been an issue for many years. The fact that kangaroos have always been hunted is no secret. These were both local natives, and the first settlers and farmers protecting their plantations from the raids of these voracious animals. Such shootings are still practiced now, in regions where flocks of kangaroos run amok, causing great damage. agriculture, but more often they are caught and moved to nature reserves.

But poaching for kangaroos has not been completely eliminated. Many travel companies organize special safaris for which hunters come from many countries, including Russia. Dozens of kangaroos are shot during jeep races different ages. And although this type of hunting is prohibited, it unfortunately still exists. For a small amount, you will be provided with a car, weapons, and experienced rangers to accompany you. With such a hunt, it is the red kangaroos that live in open areas that suffer.

Such an unusual animal as a kangaroo, in order not to disappear as a species, requires some protection from mass extermination. To do this, the Australian government has created several national parks, on the territory of which hunting for kangaroos is prohibited and they live there calmly without threat from people. And the kangaroos are trusting to the staff of these reserves, knowing that these people will never harm them, and if it happens, on the contrary, they will come to the rescue.

It is difficult to confuse this animal with someone else. The red kangaroo is the largest marsupial animal, much larger than its counterparts. The body length of the male can reach 1.65 m, while the females, nevertheless, are smaller - about a meter. The tail is the most large part kangaroo body; in males, its length is 90-110 cm, and in females - 65-85 cm.

It should also be noted that this is very main part animal: thanks to its power, the kangaroo easily balances while running, and when resting, it leans on it. Males weigh about 80-90 kilograms, while their graceful girlfriends are only 35. Only male kangaroos justify the name: their body is covered with thick reddish-brown hair, but girls are forced to be content with a sad bluish-gray color.

The muscles of the hind legs of the kangaroo are well developed, which allows the animals to jump up to 3 meters in height and up to 12 in length! It is thanks to the power of the hind limbs that the kangaroo can reach speeds of up to 48-50 km / h, but, like the cheetah, it quickly gets tired. The hind legs have four toes with sharp and rather long claws.

But the front paws of the kangaroo are small, with five fingers, but tenacity is not inferior to the paws of nimble rodents. On the abdomen of the female is a bag in which newborn kangaroos spend the first few months of their lives. Inside the bag there is a nipple, thanks to which the baby is relieved of the need to get out of the cozy mother's bag ahead of time.

Since ancient times, kangaroos have chosen the deserts, savannahs, plains, meadows and forests of Australia, but are more often found in open areas under the hot sun. They easily endure heat according to their own methodology: they move at a minimum, breathe at a high frequency through open mouth, lick their paws, and if they endure the heat completely unbearable, they dig holes in the sand, where they hide from the scorching rays.

Kangaroos are well adapted to life in harsh conditions: they are unpretentious in food and are able to for a long time survive without water. This unpretentiousness becomes saving during the drought season, when streams and small streams dry up, and stunted islands of withered grass, dry thorny bushes, porcupine grass, which animals give special preference to, remain from the vegetation.

Their relatives love to pamper themselves with eucalyptus and acacia leaves, but red kangaroos do not differ in love for these plants. Most Animals spend the day hiding in the shade, trying to avoid unnecessary movements, waiting out the heat. But in the late afternoon, when the desert cools down, they get out of their hiding places to pastures, where they feast on their favorite thorns.

Animals live in herds, which number 10-12 individuals, and in more favorable conditions - up to several dozen. If someone from the flock suddenly noticed the danger, he stands up to his full height and stomps his paws, drums with his powerful tail, as if urging his brothers to be on their guard. In general, kangaroos do not have very many enemies: dingo dogs, wedge-tailed eagles and foxes, and even they do not risk attacking healthy, large animals, but prey mainly on sick or immature individuals.

Can kangaroos breed? all year round; reproductive age in females is 15-20 months, but in males - 20-24. Despite the fact that these animals are very peaceful, in mating season the males fight with particular ferocity for the females: they weigh each other very strongly with their front paws and kick with their legs until one of them gives up.

By and large, male kangaroos are monopolists, and compete for the opportunity to mate with several females. However, kangaroos do not have long-term or permanent associations. Pregnancy in females lasts about 30 days, after which the newborn baby (usually one, in rare cases two) moves to the mother's bag.

A kangaroo is born blind, bald and very tiny - 2-3 cm in length with a weight of a couple of grams; at the same time, his hind legs are still very weakly expressed, there are no ears as such. However, he finds the strength to climb into his mother's bag on his own, where he will spend the next few months.

Babies grow quickly: fatty mother's milk is very nutritious, and after three or four months, the kangaroo begins to look out of the mother's bag. He is gradually getting stronger, his body is covered with fur, and the day is not far off when the cub will finally leave the cozy and safe mother's bag. But even jumping out for a walk on its own, the kangaroo returns to the bag in case of the slightest danger. Finally, the little kangaroo "on free bread" passes eight months, or even a year later.

Sometimes, running away from the pursuer, the mother kangaroo throws her cub out of the bag, but, as a rule, the baby falls into the bushes or a hole. If the mother manages to escape, she returns to the place where she left the kangaroo and tries to find him.

Most of Australia is national parks; in protected areas, hunting for red kangaroos is strictly controlled and is allowed in very limited quantities. Sometimes these animals cause accidents: fast-rushing kangaroos jump out onto the roads right in front of farm vehicles, provoking a collapse. They are often accused of eating away the pastures on which the sheep are supposed to feed. On the given time environmental organizations trying to control red kangaroo breeding.

Red kangaroo animal - the largest marsupial mammal on the planet.

Due to its large stature and incredibly strong hind legs, it is the undisputed animal champion in the long jump.

Kangaroo is an unofficial symbol of Australia - it is even depicted on the coat of arms of this state.

The body size of an adult male is one and a half meters, not counting the tail, the length of which reaches another one meter. The animal weighs 80 - 85 kilograms. The fur is short and thick, brown-red.

Powerful hind legs and large heavy tail allow the kangaroo to jump superbly. In case of danger, in one jump, he can cover a distance of up to 12 meters in length and up to 3 meters in height. If it is necessary to fight back, the animal suddenly leans on its own tail, and with its liberated hind legs it painfully beats the enemy.

The front clawed feet are excellently adapted for digging up edible roots. Females have a convenient bag - a deep fold of skin on the abdomen, in which the mother carries the kangaroo.

The only continent inhabited by kangaroos is Australia. Animals are accustomed to arid conditions in the steppes and semi-deserts, so they can do without water for a long time. During a long drought, they dig wells and extract water from them. These wells are then used by pink cockatoos, marsupial martens, emus and other steppe inhabitants.

Kangaroos forage at night and rest in burrows or grass nests during the day. They live in groups of 10 - 12 individuals. A male is at the head of a small herd, he has several females and small cubs. The leader is very jealous - he strictly ensures that other males do not enter his territory. Otherwise, the case ends in a serious duel.

During the sweltering heat, they try to move less, breathe often, open their mouths wide and lick their paws. If there is no way to hide in the shade from the scorching sun, they dig shallow holes in the sand.

Kangaroo animal feed on plant foods. In addition to steppe grass, they are very fond of finding cereals, roots and tubers in pastures and homesteads, which cause significant harm to Australian farmers.

Enemies

AT wild nature the red kangaroo has few enemies: dingoes, foxes and. If necessary marsupial he can stand up for himself perfectly, using fighting techniques with the help of his hind legs. They successfully flee, reaching speeds of up to 60 kilometers per hour.

The main enemy of the kangaroo is man. Farmers and ranchers different ways fight with annoying animals eating pastures. The Australian red kangaroo is of great interest to hunters - its dietary meat is rich in proteins and contains only 2% fat. Skins are used to make clothes, shoes and other products.

Kangaroo pregnancy does not last very long - from one to one and a half months. A tiny and completely helpless cub is born, only 3 centimeters in size. He immediately fits into the bag and spends the next two and a half months there, feeding on his mother's milk.

Having got a little stronger, the kangaroo begins to make short sorties, instantly jumping back at the slightest danger. Usually he hides in a bag for up to 8 months or just warms himself in it. After that, the cub begins to gradually gain independence. The life expectancy of a kangaroo is about 20 years.

1. The history of the word "kangaroo" is associated with a fascinating legend. James Cook, for the first time being on a new continent and noticing an unusual animal, asked local resident, what is it called. The aborigine replied: "Ken-gu-ru", that is, "I don't understand you", and Cook decided that this was the name of an exotic animal.
2. The principle of carrying a cub in a bag on the stomach formed the basis of modern baby carriers, which are called kangaroo backpacks.

The gigantic red kangaroo (Macropus rufus) is today the largest marsupial animal. Kangaroos grow almost throughout their lives and reach a length of about 2.5 m from the tip of the tail to the tip of the nose. While males can reach a weight of 85 kg, females are much smaller - their weight is 35 kg.

BREAK FOR THE DIGESTION PROCESS

The main occupation of the red giants is grazing and rest. In the early hours of the morning they fill the fore-stomach so that during the rest period of the day they have enough time and food to digest. The vegetable food of bush-covered lands is tough and difficult to digest, so mother kangaroos are constantly looking for tender, soft shoots for their cubs. The cubs lick the saliva from the mother's mouth in order to get important microorganisms along with it, without which they will not be able to digest solid plant food. These microorganisms are indispensable partners in symbiosis in mature animals. Around noon, grooming and digging of so-called burrows begin, where the animals can cool off. Kangaroos usually rest in the early afternoon hours, and in the cooler season they can take a rest break between midnight and predawn twilight.

NOT ONLY RED FUR

The gigantic red kangaroo lives almost throughout the central part, or rather, where the annual rainfall does not exceed 500 mm.

The coloration of males in most cases is the color of rust or dark brown, and during estrus, the red color comes out more clearly in some places. At this time, males skin glands produce especially a lot of red secretion, which they distribute with their front paws throughout the body. Females, on the other hand, are smoky blue. But in both sexes, the color varies between red and gray-bluish, which makes it difficult to distinguish between females and immature males. The color, or rather its variants, depends on the habitat: in Eastern and Southern Australia, the shades are more diverse, in North-Western Australia, on the contrary, the red color dominates in both sexes.

LEGS FOR JUMPS AND BATTLE

The gigantic red kangaroo uses the tail as a fifth leg: since the weak front legs cannot hold the body, the tail creates a counterbalance to the center of gravity that is strongly shifted forward. And yet, red giants are fast and hardy animals that can reach speeds of 70 km / h. They do this thanks to characteristic way moving forward by jumping. Colossal strength allows the kangaroo to make three-meter jumps from a place, and at full "run" their length reaches 9 m. Such records are possible due to the special structure of the hind legs. The Achilles tendons of the red giants function like steel springs when jumping: when they collide with the soil, they accumulate kinetic energy and again give it away when pushed. Thus, there is less loss due to friction than running animals of similar size.

BOXING AGAINST DINGO AND RELATIVES

The main weapon of animals, along with a powerful tail, is the fourth finger, equipped with a very large and sharp nail plate. If the dingo - the main enemy of the kangaroo - drove the animal into a trap, then the kangaroo straightens up in full height and boxing first with the front legs. But suddenly he leans only on the tail and with his hind legs strikes at the lower part of the opponent's torso. In this case, a sharp nail plate can rip open the abdominal wall and inflict a mortal wound.

Along with the dingo, the red giants have to be wary of their own relatives. First of all, fierce fights for sites take place between full-grown males. With the help of directed “punches”, opponents try to push each other out of the area. In the same way, subordination is established within the group. Young males follow such fights with great interest and at first jokingly imitate adults. The first battle is already important, otherwise you won’t take a good place in the hierarchy. Males lower in the hierarchy have the opportunity to mate only when the dominant male is not vigilant enough.

LONG WAY TO THE BAG

Kangaroos can mate all year round. Pregnancy lasts four to five weeks. When the embryo is ready to move into the pouch, it is about the same size as a cockchafer. An hour before, the mother licks her pouch clean, then she lies on her back. In this case, the embryo moves towards the bag with snake-like movements. This path he must master alone. Absolutely blind, only with the help of the front legs and guided by the sense of smell, within three to five minutes gets to the goal. Arriving in the bag, the cub sticks to one of the four nipples. It swells so much that it fills the entire oral cavity cub. Therefore, with sharp jumps of the mother, the cub cannot tear itself away from it.

Three months later, the baby separates from the nipple, as he is already able to find it again on his own. At first, milk is not very rich in fats, over time, their concentration increases. Six months later, the baby dares to stick out of the bag. At this time, the mother must teach the young kangaroo a lot, for example, in response to special calls, immediately return to her shelter.

Constantly pregnant

Kangaroos have an unusual breeding strategy. Already at the time when one young animal is growing up in a pouch, another nestled in the uterus. However, its growth stops at about 100 cells. This embryo is a reserve in case the baby in the pouch does not survive. If the baby in the pouch dies, the embryo begins to develop in the uterus. If the development of the baby in the bag proceeds normally, the "reserve embryo" dies off after a few months. But it can start to develop, and quite normally, as soon as the first cub leaves the pouch.

At this time, the mother can be fertilized again, and then a new reserve embryo appears. If for weeks and months reign high temperatures and the ground dries up, the female kangaroo interrupts the development of the cub in the pouch to ensure her own survival. If enough fresh food is not available, females are not ready to conceive.

A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF

Kangaroo gigantic red ( Macropus rufus)

Class Mammals.
Detachment of two-crested marsupials.
Family of kangaroos.
Spreading: inner part Australia.
Body length with head: males - 95-140 cm, females - 75-110 cm.
Height at the withers: over 1 m.
Weight: males - 22-85 kg, females -17-35 kg.
Nutrition: herbs, herbaceous plants, foliage and bark.
Sexual maturity: males - from 2 years, females - from 15-20 months.
Duration of pregnancy: about 33 days.
Duration of carrying in a bag: about 235 days.
Number of cubs: 1.
Lifespan: up to 20 years.

The giant red kangaroo does not know how to move backward, it always strives only forward. Perhaps due to such natural progressiveness, this animal flaunts even on the coat of arms of Australia. Although, to be honest, the marsupial aboriginal and, on the whole, well done anywhere: muscular, picky, hardy, which allows him to adapt perfectly to the arid climate - a real "ossi", as the Australians call themselves.

Animal care

Big red kangaroo(Megaleia rufa)
Class- mammals
Infraclass- marsupials
Detachment- two-pronged marsupials
Family- kangaroo
Genus- red kangaroos

The large red kangaroo is Australia's largest marsupial. Their population today is about 10 million individuals, that is, one kangaroo for two Australians. Redheads are especially numerous on the vast inland plains, where they live in small herds: a male and several females with cubs. Pregnancy in females lasts up to 40 days. There is one, rarely two cubs in the litter. Kangaroos are born tiny, they are the smallest among large mammals. The life span of a kangaroo is 10 years, in captivity - up to 15.

The homeland of red kangaroos cannot be called a paradise. Basically, these are the interior regions of the continent, the very ones that are rightly called the "Dead Heart" of Australia. There is little water here, and there is nothing to hope for rain - no more than 500 millimeters of precipitation falls annually, barely moistening the parched earth, therefore the vegetation here is not rich: only isolated islands of hard grass, even less often - thickets of Australian thorny shrubs, scrub. Feel comfortable in such conditions can only be very hardy creatures- red kangaroos are the largest living marsupials. By the way, only males can rightly be called "red", the fur of females is usually bluish-gray. Paleontologists claim that kangaroos have chosen this territory several million years ago. They have lived here since the climate in most of Australia became arid, and rainforests gave way to steppes and deserts.

Red kangaroos are real hermits. They are not only extremely unpretentious to food, but also endure the lack of water. This quality is especially important in summer, when the few rivers dry up from the heat, and the animals have to stay in the exhausting heat. The hottest, midday hours, they try to spend in the shade and move less. If this does not help, kangaroos lick their paws and smear saliva over their muzzle and body to cool themselves. Thanks to this “washing”, jumpers can endure heat of more than 40 degrees, which is not uncommon in the Australian desert. They become active at night, with the onset of coolness.

Red kangaroos live in herds of 10-12 individuals. The family consists of several females with offspring and one, rarely two males. Sometimes such small groups unite into large ones, where the number of animals reaches a thousand or more heads. Usually they live within a certain territory, but sometimes, in search of the best places for life, can embark on a long journey. The maximum recorded distance that the red kangaroos managed to overcome is 216 kilometers, and this is a lot even for the vast expanses of the Green Continent.

True, red-haired giants sometimes, through negligence, can become the cause and victim of an accident. Farmers and national park rangers who drive jeeps know that in a collision, as a rule, both the animal and the car suffer. Therefore, they came up with the idea of ​​​​attaching a strong “kenguryatnik” frame to the front bumper, the demand for which, heated by manufacturers of auto accessories, has spread throughout the world. So the red kangaroo can rightly consider himself a co-author of this invention.