Tag:kangaroos
Australia is often associated with the image of kangaroos hopping across the horizon or on a beach. Just like the koala, the kangaroo is a global icon of Australia. They are prominently featured on Australia’s coat of arms alongside the emu, and the flying kangaroo serves as the emblem of the national airline. The animals represent a nation that is constantly moving forward, as they are unable to walk backwards.
These hopping macropods (the name means big foot) are the world’s largest marsupials. They are native to Australia and the offshore islands of Tasmania and Kangaroo Island, New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago. Varieties of Kangaroo include the eastern grey kangaroo, red kangaroo, western grey kangaroo, common and black wallaroo and antilopine kangaroo, as well as fourteen species of the Macropus genus, called Wallabies. Overall there are 45 varieties of kangaroo.
Male kangaroos are called bucks, boomers, jacks or old men. Females are flyers or jills. Their young are called joeys, and a group of ‘roos is a mob, court or troop.
Appearance
Kangaroos are marsupials with large feet and powerful hind legs, enabling them to travel at 70 km/h and jump more than 9 metres in a single bound. In addition, their small front legs and long, powerful tail provides balance when jumping. The red kangaroo is the tallest; the males can grow up to 2 metres tall, weigh 140 kg and is 3 metres long from nose to tip of the tail, which they use like a fifth leg.
In contrast, the smallest kangaroo is the musky rat-kangaroo at only 40 to 50 cm. Kangaroos have exceptional hearing and can swivel their ears to pick up sounds. They also have excellent eyesight but only react to moving objects. Their coat can be red, grey or light to dark brown, depending on the species. Kangaroos are superb swimmers and use their tails to propel them through the water and paddle with their front legs. They swim to avoid predators and can use their forepaws to drown pursuers.
Behaviour
Young kangaroos will playfight, but the fighting becomes more serious as they age. Fighting is either over access to the females, to establish dominance and move up the mob hierarchy or against enemies. They use their forelegs to grip an enemy, rock back on their tail and swiftly drop their huge, sharp, clawed hind feet. This action has been known to disembowel dogs and humans.
When chased by hunters with dogs, they often head for water and have been known to turn and hold down on the dog with their forefeet in an attempt to drown it. When alarmed, a kangaroo will hiss and growl. The females make clicking noises when communicating with their young. Males also ‘chuckle’ during courtship.
Reproduction
Like all marsupials, kangaroos have pouches where the joeys are reared. The pouches also contain four teats producing two different types of milk. A newborn is attached permanently to one (neonatal) teat and receives a protein-rich fluid. The other teats produce ‘mature’ milk for the joey at her feet. Grey kangaroos allocate more protein to sons than daughters.
Kangaroos produce one young annually. The joey is born at a very immature stage, is only about 2 cm long, and weighs less than a gram. Immediately following birth, it crawls up the mother’s body, enters her pouch, and attaches itself to the neonatal teat. The teat then enlarges to hold the joey in place. The joey leaves the pouch after nine months but continues to suckle until twelve months.
Within a few days of giving birth, the females enter heat again, mate and conceive. However, after one week of developing, the embryo enters a dormant state. This dormancy remains until the young Joey leaves the pouch. Development of the embryo will then resume, and the female gives birth after a 30-day gestation, and the cycle starts all over again. Female kangaroos are literally permanently pregnant!
Diet and Habitat
Kangaroos are herbivores and graze on grass, young shoots, leaves of heath plants, and grass trees. They get most of their water from the plants they eat; thus, they require very little water to survive and can go months without drinking water. They also conserve water by only being active when the weather is cooler. During the day, they will rest in the shade, coming out to eat in the late afternoon and at night when it’s much cooler. They can be found across woodlands, forests, plains and savannahs of Australia. Like cattle, kangaroos regurgitate their food. They chew it twice before it passes into their chambered stomach.
Population
The current kangaroo population in Australia is estimated to be around 50 million. To slow the rising population of kangaroos, which has doubled in the last six years, scientists are asking people to eat more kangaroo meat (which has been legal to consume since 1993). The rise in population is attributed to an abundance of food after three years of heavy rains due to La Niña. Concerns are a loss of diversity if the population keeps growing. Calls for a kangaroo cull are growing. Kangaroos have only three natural predators – dingoes, humans and wedge-tail eagles. Unlike many species, European settlement has actually benefited their numbers.
Settlers cleared vast forest areas and put in bores, dams and tanks, providing permanent water resources and abundant pasture grasses. Coupled with the extinction of the Tasmanian tiger and the dingo fence, they have become overabundant in some areas. As a result, there are now more kangaroos than people in Australia.
Caution Required
Kangaroos may look cute and friendly, and some are quite tame as they have become used to humans as they encroach on suburbia. But they are still wild animals, and not all are friendly and docile or as ‘smart’ as the star of the 1960s television show ‘Skippy’. Some have been known to attack humans and dogs.
While most attacks aren’t serious, in 1938, a New South Wales man died from injuries he received protecting his dogs. This year, in Western Australia, a 77-year-old man died after being attacked by the western grey kangaroo he had hand raised from a joey. Kangaroos are protected under federal conservation laws, and it is an office to harm or keep them as pets.
We were taking the visiting Scottish cousins away for three days to the Grampians and chose the Northern Grampians. Why the Northern Grampians and not southern, western, eastern, because not only for the abundance of wildlife, but they have most of, the iconic natural attractions found in the Grampians. Boroka Lookout, Reids Lookout, The Balconies, Mackenzie Falls and The Pinnacle can all be found a short drive from Halls Gap, a comfortable 3 hr drive from Melbourne.
We had visited the Northern Grampians in 2016 again basing ourselves in Halls gap. This time around we booked into Halls Gap Log Cabins, nice two bedroom cabin, and very comfy and handy to everything.
Wildlife at Northern Grampians
Every day as the sun went down the ‘roo’s came into the grounds. The owners, as a result, never need to mow their lawn here 😉
Another frequent visitor in the late afternoon were the emu’s. They turned up like clockwork every afternoon around 5pm in the large open paddock behind the cabins, wandering around foraging, only slightly interested in mad tourists.
We made the mistake, on the the first day of feeding a magpie…. I know, I know, I can hear you shaking your head. Within minutes we had a host of cockies joining the maggies.. and they ended up getting the lions share of the twisties!
Due to seeing a sign next morning, ‘please dont feed the birds’ we hung our heads and shame and refused to feed them next afternoon when they came calling.
Country Roads
We headed out next morning with plans to visit Boroka Lookout, Mackenzie Falls and Reids Lookout… unfortunately Google Maps on my phone directed us down a poorly signposted dirt road for about 30kms, then told us in the middle of nowhere “you have arrived”. By now, we also had no phone service so we kept following the road for about another 20kms. We came to a sign saying Halls Gap, and took it. Continued on the dirt road, for a few more kms, then came to a fork in the road, with no idea which way to head. Asses Ears Road or Rosebrook-Glenisla Road? Neither sounded a good idea.
Wondering which road to take, and with visions of search and rescue finding our bleached bones in 30 yrs time, I suddenly realised that right at this spot, I had four bars of service! Plugged in Halls Gap and off went again. Back the way we had come. Just a few yards down the road service dropped to one bar then none, but by now, I had the maps loaded. We eventually came back out at Northern Grampians road with a signpost to the lookouts and falls. Cue the applause in the car. We had just done a needless, 50km plus dirt road detour.
On the upside, we saw loads of wildlife, and while they moved way too fast to photograph, or get near, we did spots lots ‘in the wild’. From Kangaroo’s, Wallaby, Emu’s even a deer or two on these rarely travelled (by smart people) tracks.
Back on solid, man made roads we hot footed straight to Mackenzie Falls. Having absolutely no intention of going to the bottom of the falls, we took a couple of walks to view Broken Falls and Mackenzie Falls from the top.
Mackenzie Falls
Boroka Lookout
Leaving Mackenzie Falls behind we drove to Boroka Lookout.
Where both the MOTH and a visiting Scottish cousin ducked through the railing for a photo op
The rest of the day was taken up with non photographic but enjoyable stuff like eating, drinking, watching clouds go by….
Next Morning……..
Waking up next morning, we found the sun had gone.. .light misty rain was coming across the hills. We decided instead to visit Dunkeld in the Northern Grampians sector. Not the best idea. Rain pelted down as we were leaving the and the mountains had heavy cloud hanging over them
Arriving in Dunkeld we headed to the Arboretum. Maintenance was being done on the pier I wanted to shoot and it was completely blocked by fences and workmen. Plan B, we’ll go to the museum in the old railway station. Closed. Only open sundays and public holidays. After 1pm. **heavy sigh** Plan C – lets go to the bakery.
Set back off the main road in a suburban street the bakery is obviously well known as on a wet tuesday it was still busy. The carrot cake and coffee were delicious. No photo. Ate it too quick 😉
The Balconies
Leaving the town that was almost awake we drove back towards Halls Gap. By now the weather was improving so we decided to go to The Balconies on the way back. They are at the same carpark as Reids Lookout, but it had been too warm to do the uphill walk the day before.
The walk is supposed to be ‘easy’ as its only 1km each way. “Suitable for all ages and fitness”. According the to brochures its a ‘slight incline’. We, however, made use of the chairs on the way up and arrived sounding like asthmatic steam trains. Obviously our level of fitness is considered extinct and not worth mentioning.
This time I didn’t need to encourage the MOTH to climb the barrier and go out on the balcony. Not that I would have suggested it this time – it was blowing a gale up there. But an unknown man who “has done it heaps of times its quite safe” went out there for a friend and we snapped his pic as well.
Next day we headed back home to Melbourne…. had a lovely three nights there with Scottish girls. I thoroughly recommend the Halls Gap Log Cabins. Comfy stay and wildlife at your door, (and the shower was awesome)