Bennett wallaby (© Helma van Dijk)

The male kangaroo is called ‘Boomer’, the female is called a ‘Flyer’. Wallaby’s male are called ‘Buck’ or ‘Boomer’, the female are called ‘Do’ or ‘Jill’. The babies and young animals are called ‘Joey’.

Kangaroos are Marsupials or Marsupialia, belonging to the genus Macropodidae. All members of this genus, whether potoroidae of 25 cm or giant kangaroos are more than 1.80 m, two things in common: they are herbivores and they have greatly elongated hind legs. The genus and species name Macropodidae Macropus are therefore derived from Greek and means ‘big foot’. The large kangaroo species are diurnal, the small ones are mostly active at night.

Kangaroos make grunting, coughing and sucking sound effects they have no voice. But the sounds they do make are remarkably expressive cough of two men challenging each other for example sounds terrifying, suction sounds that the male is to be chosen, to mollify her and sounding even seem a man comforting.

There’s a sound that people who have watched beaten familiar with kangaroos. That’s the pounding of the hind legs of the animals they were terrified jumped away.

A pack of kangaroos is actually a combination of several families. The animals are always scattered and do not stay together like cows or sheep. As kangaroos panic to flee, they fly about in all directions and then it’s every man for himself and God for us all. At night no packs are formed, only groups of two or three at a great distance from each other. Many animals graze on their own. But at dawn they all come together and then they continue together all day.

There is a strong family bond. As a mother her whole life will keep a bond with her daughters.

Mothers, daughters and even grandmothers and aunts will provide each young to drink, even (temporarily) take them in the pouch. Males and females have naturally a bond for life. However, a male can have several females. In large species of kangaroos, the family relationship is very important in raising the younger animals. Not only the mother will help but also the father and the older brother or sister will protect and educate the joey.

Kangaroos can bear freezing cold and summer temperatures of 30 degrees which they well tolerated. Their fur is thick and woolly, in summer their fur is thin and his hair short. Nevertheless, they do suffer from the heat.

Most animals, when it is very hot, try to cool down by sweating or panting. The evaporation of sweat or saliva they get rid of their heat. But kangaroos do neither. They shall use a third method to lowering their body: they lick their paws, evaporated saliva and so they find some refreshment.

They lick their paws as they are very nervous and feel a great danger. This nervous action seems to have no connection with the licking to cool down, but a kind of outlet for being voltages.

Kangaroos are not ruminants, but give the food from the stomach as a green acidic substance, to then immediately swallow. The purpose of this operation is certain bacteria do not disappear through the intestines with the manure, but to bring again at the front in the stomach. These bacteria help to digest food.