Kangaroos

The kangaroo is one of Australia’s most iconic animals, and most species are endemic to Australia. There are over 60 different species of kangaroo and their close relatives, with all kangaroos belonging to the super family Macropodoidea (or macropods, meaning ‘great-footed’). The super family is divided into the Macropodidae and the Potoroidae families.

The Macropodidae (macropod) family includes kangaroos, wallabies, wallaroos, pademelons, tree-kangaroos and forest wallabies. Species in the macropod family vary greatly in size and weight, ranging from 0.5 kilograms to 90 kilograms. The Potoroinae (potoroid) family of kangaroos includes the potoroo, bettong and rat-kangaroo, which live only in Australia.

Kangaroos of different types live in all areas of Australia, from cold-climate areas and desert plains, to tropical rainforests and beaches.

Life and habitat

Kangaroos are herbivorous, eating a range of plants and, in some cases, fungi. Most are nocturnal but some are active in the early morning and late afternoon. Different kangaroo species live in a variety of habitats. Potoroids, for example, make nests while tree-kangaroos live above ground in trees. Larger species of kangaroo tend to shelter under trees or in caves and rock clefts.

Kangaroos of all sizes have one thing in common: powerful back legs with long feet. Most kangaroos live on the ground and are distinguished from other animals by the way they hop on their strong back legs. A kangaroo’s tail is used to balance while hopping and as a fifth limb when moving slowly.

All female kangaroos have front-opening pouches that contain four teats. This is where the ‘joey’, or young kangaroo, is raised until it can survive outside the pouch.

Most kangaroos have no set breeding cycle and are able to breed all year round. Because they are such prolific breeders, a kangaroo population can increase fourfold in five years if it has continuous access to plentiful food and water.

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Cape Jervis at sunset. Cape Jervis is the pick up point for the ferry sailing to Kangaroo Island

Latin name:

Phascolarctos cinereus
(Greek: phaskolos means pouch; arktos means bear. Latin: cinereus means ash-colored.)
Koalas are marsupials, females having a pouch in which their young first develop. Their pouch faces the rear and has a drawstringlike muscle that the mother can tighten. They are the sole member of the family Phascolarctidae.

Taxonomy:

Kingdom: Animal
Phylum: Vertibrata
Class: Mammalia
Sub-Class: Marsupialia
Order: Diprotodontia
Sub-Order: Vombatiformes
Infra order: Phascolarctomorphia
Family: Phascolarctidae
Genus: Phascolarctos Cinereus

Subspecies:

There are three subspeies:
P.c. victor (Victoria)
P.c. cinereus (New South Wales)
P.c. adustus (Queensland).

Size:

Size is larger in the southern regions. Head-body length in the south average 30.7 in./78 cm for males and 28 in./72 cm for females.

Weight:

Average 26 lbs/11.8 kg for southern males and 17.4 lbs/7.9 kg for southern females. In the north, males average 14.3 lbs/6.5 kg; females 11.2 lbs/5.1 kg. At birth young weighs only 0.5 gm. (This is no typo; it is amazing how small they are at birth, about the size of a bee.)

Fur:

The fur of the koala in southern region is thick and woolly and is thicker and longer on the back than on the belly. Koalas in northern region have a short coat; this gives them a naked appearnace. The color and pattern of the coat varies considerably between individuals and with age.

Coat:

Thickest of the marsupials. Gray to tawny: white on the chin, chest, and forelimbs. Rump consists of tougher connective tissue dappled with white patches. Fluffy ears with longer white hairs. Coat is shorter and lighter in color toward northern regions.

Gestation period:

34-36 days.

Life span:

Their life span today varies considerably due to stress factors, probably averaging 13-18 years.

 

AMERICAN RIVER KANGAROO ISLAND AND THE PELICANS

 

 

 

 

 

There are pelican antics a plenty as the minibuses arrive. The kiosk owner feeds them at about 4.30 each afternoon, and they fly in to take an easy supper. Their squabbling and jostling provides some guaranteed wildlife snaps for the Japanese and German visitors. The pelicans couldn't care less, but they are flapping about in an old port that has seen plenty of cargo. The first craypots in South Australia were thrown from the fishing boat "Stella" here a century back, and the coastal ketches regularly called here with imports and exports through until the 1970's.

 

 

in Flinders Chase National Park. A viewing platform and boardwalk around a cliff face leads visitors to this spectacular natural rock arch, sculpted by weathering and erosion from the sea over thousands of years. Here you can also observe a colony of New Zealand Fur-seals as they feed, swim and laze on the shore platform below. Admirals Arch can be easily reached along a boardwalk at Cape du Couedic.

 

Kelly Hill Caves - Kangaroo Island

Welcome to the underworld of Kangaroo Island. About ninety minutes drive south west of Penneshaw and you can step into a subterranean wonderland which has captivated cavers for decades. Not surprising the first person to discover this amazing network of vast underground chambers did so by accident. He was a farmer who literally rode in having failed to spot one of the many sink holes which fall away beneath the thick scrub on this part of the island. "In 1880 a local stockman called Kelsy was riding his horse called Kelly through the hills here. He was chasing sheep that had strayed from his property and in fact Kelly and Kelsey fell down one of the big sink holes we have around here. Kelsy managed to scramble out but poor old Kelly was left down the bottom of the sink hole. Kelsy went back to his farm to get help and to rescue the horse and when he came back he couldn't find her." Some believe the farmer may have gone back to the wrong hole, others claim the horse was later pulled to safety. And yet another story has it that Kelly the horse wandered off into this labyrinth never to be seen again. Either way these amazing underground caverns now bear the animal's name with Kelly Hills Caves a popular destination for day tourists and the more intrepid adventurers and its been that way since the twenties. "Harold Bell was a local and he first explored Kelly Hill Caves in 1926. He followed the same tour route that we do today and in fact in 1926 he started taking guided tours through here." "So he's the original Kangaroo Island tourist guide?" "Absolutely this was his favourite place the midnight Cavern because it's so highly decorated and he certainly appreciated the special helagtites we have in here."
And special they certainly are, with some defying the laws of nature. "Well that there, that's a classic piece. The fish hook you can see it's actually grown upwards and is defying gravity." How does it do that?" "We really don't know we have a few theories but certainly helagtites are a mystery in the cave."

Harold Bell, seen here under the partial shade of one of his beloved cave entrances, took people down here by candlelight. The smoke stains on the cave ceiling can still be seen to this day and each was given a letter of the alphabet so if separated from this old rusty wire tour, members could still make it home. It's a lot safer now, if you stick to the paths. "But you don't really know how far the caves extend from here do you?" "No, it's certainly possible that they extend all the way to the coast which is about 9 kms from here." That's a staggering thought that this cavernous highway extends all the way to the coast." "Absolutely, certainly Kelly Hill is a maze of caverns and tunnels and all the time we're discovering new areas." And all of this is actually a petrified sand dune which blew onto the Island when the surrounding sea level dropped during the last ice age. For the past five hundred thousand years, water and iron oxide have seeped through to eat away and stain these amazing caverns. The caves are located off the South Coast Road in the Kelly Hill Conservation Park. They're open daily from 10am.