Red Kangaroo Essay

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Animal Report on Red Kangaroo The Red Kangaroo belongs to the Animala Kingdom, the Chordata Phylum, the Mammalia Class, the Marsupialia subclass, the Diprotodontia Order, the Macropodiformes Suborder, the Macropodidae Family, the Macropus Genus and the Macropus rufus Species. Other members of this order are ring-tailed possums of the Petauroidea family, cuscuses of the Phalangeridae family, wombats of the Vombatidae family and koalas of the Phascolarctidae family. The Red Kangaroo can be distinguished from others in its order by its red-brown fur and by its size. It is the largest kangaroo. A male can reach the height of six feet tall while a female can reach about four feet tall. They live in the central part of Australia where rainfall in less than 20 inches per year. They forage on the open plains but are also usually found where there is shade and shelter from scattered trees. The juvenile stage of a kangaroo, or joey, as they are referred to are born at 31-36 days gestation. They are not fully developed, only their forelimbs which they use for climbing around in the pouch to eat. They will stay in their mother’s pouch for around nine months before leaving for small amounts of time. The joeys are fed by their mother until about the age of 18 months. The Red Kangaroo eats grasses and other vegetation sometimes even shrubs. They have special teeth which allow them to get grass low to the gound and then grind it up. They can go long periods of time without water because they have the ability to get moisture from plants. Kangaroos do not hunt for food at all. There are perceived as a pest to farmers for doing damage to their fences and eating their crops. Because of this there are several thousand that are legally shot each year. The shooting is done by licensed shooters who must follow strict guidelines. There is also a quota set each year based on

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