Western grey kangaroo

Two western gray kangaroos ( Macropus fuliginosus )

The Western Grey Kangaroo ( Macropus fuliginosus ) is a pouch species from the family of kangaroos ( Macropodidae ). Of the three kangaroos, it is the smallest and rarest Art

Description

The Western Grey Kangaroo achieved without the one-meter- long tail in length from 1.1 to 1.3 meters and an average weight of 28 kilograms. His fur is gray brown to chocolate brown, of the similar eastern gray kangaroo, it is distinguished by a white patch on the throat and the white-colored belly. Your body is characterized as with most kangaroos through the long, powerful tail, the muscular hind legs, short front legs and elongated head with large ears.

Distribution and habitat

Home of this kangaroos is the whole of southern Australia. Their range extends from southern Western Australia through South Australia to New South Wales and southern Queensland. They also live on Kangaroo Island (where there is a separate subspecies ), but not in Tasmania. They inhabit variety of habitats, including open forests and heaths and grasslands. Important is a varied structured habitat that provides trees for shade and open areas for foraging. Sometimes they are also found in the vicinity of human settlements, for example, on golf courses.

Behavior

These animals are mainly crepuscular or nocturnal. During the day they sleep in the shade of trees to go out at night in search of food. You have two ways of getting around. When foraging, they move on all fours on, based on the short front legs and graze the floor. At high speeds, they hop in the usual way with the hind legs, the tail is used for balance.

Western kangaroos live together in loose groups, but which have no permanent structures. Females often remain near their mother, even if they have already thrown themselves. A male examined during the mating season contact to the females to breed with them, later it again leaves the group. Other males form bachelor groups, by fighting they try to displace the dominant male of a group to propagate itself. These fights consist of bites and kicks with his front paws. An animal can a territory of 500 hectares to inhabit, but they do not exhibit territorial behavior.

Food

The food of the western Giant kangaroos is purely vegetable, it consists of grasses, leaves and bark. A multi-chamber stomach and special microorganisms in the digestive tract to aid in digestion of food. The animals have very little to drink and get most of the needed liquid from the food.

Reproduction

Mating can occur all year round, but is dependent on the food supply and the number of births peaked in spring and early summer. After a 30 -day gestation period is usually one, rarely also given birth to two cubs. This climbs out of its own resources into the pouch, where it is firmly attached to one of the four teats and so spends the first ten months of life. A delayed birth, as it occurs in other kangaroos, is not observed.

After 300 days, the young animal is the first time out of the bag, with just under a year, it will no longer fit into it. However, it is still nursed until the age of 18 months, a record among marsupials. Sexual maturity occurs at around two years.

In captivity, these kangaroos can grow up to 20 years old, in the wild they would hardly be older than ten years.

System

This species belongs to the genus Macropus, to which, inter alia, the Wallabies and the mountain kangaroos are counted. Its closest relative is the similar, but slightly larger Eastern Grey Kangaroo, with the Red Kangaroo however, it is more distantly related.

There are two subspecies, Macropus fuliginosus fuliginosus on Kangaroo Island and M. f melanops on the mainland.

Threat

Adult animals have sometimes hardly natural enemies, young and sick animals fall prey to dingoes. Their only serious threat represents the man, but they have been like all the big kangaroo species drawn by the arrival of Europeans less affected than smaller species. In the past they were hunted, sometimes because they devastate plantations for their meat and fur and. Hunting is strictly limited today and the Western Grey Kangaroo is not considered a threatened species.