AUSTRALIA - Animals

Australian Animals

The Kangaroo

 The kangaroo is a Marsupial. Their female has a pouch, also called the marsupium in which she carries her baby after birth where it will continue to grow until it can get out of its mother's pouch. Legend has it that the kangaroo name would come as an error of understanding from Captain Cook. The Captain asked a resident of Australia the name of this animal. The man answered “kangaroo” which meant “I did not understand” and Captain Cook baptized the animal “kangaroo”.

The “kangaroo” name designates one of the members of the four largest living species: the red kangaroo, the giant kangaroo, the antelope kangaroo and gray kangaroo.

The Red Kangaroo:
Red kangaroos are the most famous males, measuring at least 1.80 m high, it can weigh up to 80kg. Females are smaller than the males and measure around 1.10 meters high and weigh 35kg. They live in groups.

The red kangaroo is the largest of all the kangaroo. It is found across mainland Australia, avoiding only the more fertile areas in the south, the east and the northern rainforests.
This is an omnivore or herbivore. They can remain 2 to 3 weeks without food, water feeds him enough for his needs.

The Giant Kangaroo:

The giant kangaroo is a marsupial widespread in southern and eastern Australia with a population of several millions.
These are herbivorous animals that live in wet meadows (unlike the red kangaroo that lives in areas bordering the desert) in the surroundings of agricultural fields (so it eats mainly grass).
These are animals that live at night and sleep during the day in holes dug in the ground and enjoy fresh hours of the night to feed. They live in small groups with an male that dominates several groups that can graze together.

The Gray Kangaroo:
The gray kangaroo is a great macropus across southern Australia. It looks great . In 1996 they were about 3 millions.
It feeds on grass but also bark, branches and tree roots. It is able to live with very little water.
It is a nocturnal animal that lives in bands of fifteen individuals.

Kangaroos in general have three predators: The dingo, snake, and poachers.

The Wallabies: it is the smallest of the kangaroos. It is herbivorous.
Females weigh 8 to 15 kg and males weigh 15 to 22 kg. Females are 50-75 cm high whereas males are 65-90 cm high.

Kangaroos move with successive jumps and cant walk up to 4 or 5 km/h. Depending on the species, they can go as fast as 60km/h and can jump to a maximum of 7 meters long, with an maximum jump of 1,5 meter high.

Duck-billed Platypus

The platypus is a semi-aquatic animal. It lives mainly in Eastern Australia. Only mammal that lays eggs instead of giving birth to fully formed babies.

Its original appearance has been used in many circumstances, especially in its country of origin, Australia. It is so rare that it was used as a mascot for many events. It appears even on the tail of the coin of 20 Australian cents.

According an Aboriginal myth, the platypus results of the disobedience of a young cane (female duck). The cane was living with others of its species in a pond. All were afraid of the Devil On the Water and had never been away from their pond. But one day, against the advice of her elders, the cane ventured downstream and eventually found a patch of grass on the bank. Not knowing that it was the territory of the Water Rat, she moved there. Hearing the cane, the Water Rat appeared, threatened her, and, dragging her into his burrow, forced her to mate with him. The baby that was born from that event was the first Platypus. It is sometimes said that the platypus is proof of God's sense of humour.

The Platypus reaches sexual maturity around the age of 2 years old. When the platypus was first discovered, it was not known that females laid eggs. The male does not participate to the care of the eggs. The female lays one to three eggs.

It is carnivorous and feeds on insect larvae or freshwater shrimp, small fish.

A male can have up to seven kilometers of shoreline shared with 3-4 females. When he plunges his heart slows down to conserve oxygen consumption.They have a groove which is closed when the animal swims, which makes it deaf and blind in the water but allows it to remain longer underwater.

. In the nature, the Platypus can live up to ten or fifteen years.

His predators are snakes, Rakalis, Goannas and Raptors. Yet, the greatest threat to the Platypus is the deterioration of its habitat. Because it adapts well to the freshwater environment, the Platypus depends on the availability of its habitat.

MOHAMED & SAMUEL