Kangaroos are marsupials (animals with pouches) that live in Australia and New Guinea. Most of them live on grassy plains and feed on plants. They move about in troops, springing along on their big, powerful hind legs and large feet. Their long tails help them to balance.
There are five species of kangaroos. Red and grey ones are the largest. A red kangaroo may be taller and heavier than a man. Grey kangaroos can bounce along at 40 kilometres per hour if chased. Wallaroos are smaller kind of kangaroo.
A full grown kangaroo stands about six feet tall. Its front legs are short while the hind legs are very long. The powerful hind legs enable the kangaroo to take long jumps of 3 to 5 metres at a time. If a hunter or hunting dog chases a kangaroo, it runs very fast making long jumps. It can cover a distance of 7 to 9 metres just in one jump. When a kangaroo is cornered by hunting dogs, it can seize a dog with its forelegs and kill it with one swing of its hind legs.
The female kangaroo has a pouch in its belly in between the hind legs in which it keeps its young ones till they grow up. When a baby kangaroo is born, it is a tiny, pink, naked mass of about 2.5 cm in length and about 1 gm in weight. Not only the infant kangaroo, but even young kangaroos need the protection of their mothers. A kangaroo lives on the mother’s milk until it leaves the pouch at the age of 6 to 8 months. A kangaroo lives for about 6 to 8 years. Finding the young ones in danger, the mother kangaroo lifts them with its mouth and places them inside its pouch.
The kangaroo is a mild animal like the sheep and goats. Like the hare, it is unable to see an object just in front of it. But its power of smelling and hearing is quite strong.