Red Kangaroo: a two-minute wildlife lesson

Australian Mammals · day 1 of 7

Five facts

1. Its legs work like rubber bands: a stretchy tendon stores energy on landing and springs it back. It can reach about 60 km/h.
2. Thanks to where its eyes sit on its head, a red kangaroo can see around itself across roughly 300 degrees.
3. To keep cool on hot days, it rests in the shade, pants, sweats and licks its forearms.
4. A newborn is tiny, blind and has no hair. Pulling with its front legs, it crawls through its mother's fur to the pouch in three to five minutes.
5. A mother can care for three young at once: one hopping at her side, one in the pouch and a tiny embryo on pause until there is room.

The quiz

1. What part of the red kangaroo's leg stores energy like a rubber band?

• Its toenails
• Its Achilles tendon (correct)
• Its kneecap
• Its fur

The Achilles tendon stretches on landing, then releases its energy.

2. Roughly how wide is a red kangaroo's field of vision?

• About 90 degrees
• About 120 degrees
• About 180 degrees
• About 300 degrees (correct)

Its eye position gives it a view of about 300 degrees.

3. Which of these does a red kangaroo do to cool down?

• Rolls in snow
• Licks its forearms (correct)
• Swims in the sea every day
• Sheds all its fur in summer

Panting, sweating, shade and licking its forelimbs all help it stay cool.

4. How does a newborn red kangaroo reach the pouch?

• It climbs through its mother's fur (correct)
• Its mother carries it in her mouth
• It hops there on its back legs
• It is born already inside

Using its front legs, it climbs through the fur in about three to five minutes.

5. How many generations of young can a red kangaroo mother have at once?

• One
• Two
• Three (correct)
• Five

She can have a young at foot, one in the pouch and a paused embryo.

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