National Geographic: Kangaroo Comeback Page #2

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as the other joey

who's already out and about

Once again, Joey's mother

senses trouble

And her instincts are usually

on the mark

Not far off, the eagle has claimed

a young kangaroo

and Joey's mother decides to depart

But wedgetailed eagles have families

to feed as well

And these two are anxious to eat

She brings them torn off slivers

of meat

gently feeding the chicks from

a fearsome beak

Nothing much has changed for the

rest of the kangaroos

The young males play

the adults relax

Many settle in for a regular

daytime snooze

But Joey's got other ideas

He's up now, so his mother must rouse

herself to stand guard

Joey looks big enough to be weaned

He has taken to sticking just his

head in the pouch sometimes nursing

sometimes only for comfort

The kangaroos are having a

quiet afternoon

For the most part, they just sit

around or dust-bathe

For the first time

Joey's mother allows him to wander

more than an arm's length away

He's always been a fine scratcher

But he's still an uncertain walker

at best

Kangaroos are built for hopping

They look ungainly moving

at slower speeds

Young males play-fight for

hours each day

This comical pair probably

won't hurt each other

but someday, they may fight

in earnest for mating rights

Though he's still nursing

Joey wants to try a mouthful

of grass

and gets a thorn in the nose

for his trouble

It will be a while before he's

tuned to this landscape

but he just learned a valuable lesson

He turns to a more familiar source

But Mother isn't her usual

welcoming self

She controls her pouch with

powerful muscles

and easily ejects her joey

His weaning has begun

From now on, he'll do more of his

feeding from outside

In time, Joey will join these

sparring matches

Using their tails for balance

the young kangaroos stand upright

wrestling with forearms and pawing

at heads and shoulders

They throw their heads back

protecting themselves

from sharp claws

A passing eagle, headed back

to a recent kill

stops to survey the scene

Her arrival sends Joey diving head

first into the pouch

All the kangaroos are wary

But with hungry chicks to feed

the eagle returns to the dead joey

Apart from human hunters

only the eagle and the dingo now

regularly pursue red kangaroos

But huge lizards and even marsupial

lions may have fed on Joey's ancestors

Giants once roamed this landscape

Their legacy today is a ferocious

flesh-eating marsupial now found

only on Australia's companion

island Tasmania

Not known for their table manners

Tasmanian devils snarl

and snap even

when there's plenty to go around

The devils are gorging on

a mid-sized kangaroo

usually called a wallaby

And the ruckus alerts another

kangaroo cousin

that it's time to take cover

This little hopper is

a Tasmanian bettong

Her youngster, too large

for the pouch

keeps to the nest when

she forages

The smaller devil, a female

also has young who have grown

too large for her pouch

From the safety of a hollow log

the young ones wait impatiently

for their dinner

As quiet settles on the forest

the sprightly bettongs get back

to business

Hopping probably originated

in kangaroos like these:

Perhaps the motion confused predators

giving the small 'roos a chance

at escape

But it was on the open plains

that the kangaroos' singular way

of getting

about probably came into its own

Scientists know that hopping can be

far more efficient than running

When a kangaroo hits the ground

its hind legs store energy like

compacted springs

The energy helps propel the kangaroo

upwards for the next hop

The motion also accordions the

'roo's lungs in and out

so the animal wastes no effort

while breathing

Scientists haven't solved the mystery

of how kangaroos went

from four legs to two

But the Aborigines have long had

their own explanations

One ancient myth holds

that while making its four legged

way through the brush

a kangaroo heard sounds it had

never heard before

It followed the enchanting music

until it came upon human

beings singing

and dancing on two feet

The kangaroo stood up on feet

of its own

then began to copy their movements

It burst from hiding in a frenzy

intending to join the ceremony

around the fire

But the people were angry

They fell upon the proud animal

determined that it should die

Then a spirit voice boomed

from the heavens

telling them to release the kangaroo

and cherish him as a brother

While hopping earned kangaroos

a special place

in the Aboriginal Dreamtime

it also propelled them into some

of the most unlikely places

This beautiful little kangaroo

is a yellow footed rock wallaby

They show off their mountaineering

skills

wherever cliffs jut out of

Australia's vast desert land

Living in large colonies

the rock wallabies shelter

in caves along the rocks

Shady crevices harbor vegetation

year-round

But water can be a problem

To get it, they sometimes descend

to where rain collects below

Wedgetailed eagles prey on rock

wallabies, too

Youngsters waiting on the cliffs

sometimes wander into the open

Only adults descend to drink

Young ones too big for the pouch

must stay behind

In just a few minutes

she'll drink a tenth of her weight

in water

Then she'll hurry back to her joey

Thirsty joeys drink straight

from mother's mouth

Like their big red cousins

on the plains

young rock wallabies spend hours

in mock battle

And while the children play

some adults engage in courtship

But this male's gentle ardor is

getting him nowhere

The children, oblivious, play on

He's nothing if not persistent

But she'll have none of it

Other adults bask lazily in the

early morning light

Long eyelashes my help screen

out the harsh sun

and discourage flies

Before retreating into the cool

caves for the day

the wallabies sunbathe

As the sun warms the cliff face

they head for their midday hideouts

The eagle will have no more chances

at them today

It wheels and heads for the plains

and its larger kangaroo fare

Joey's growing like a desert weed

and sporting a much redder coat

Each day he spends less time

in the pouch

and no longer clings to his mother

when out

This is a dangerous time for Joey

He's too big for his mother to carry

if she has to run away

and reason to run is never far off

A hungry dingo is slinking about

while Joey's busy grooming himself

His mother calls Joey to her side

Neither one sees the dingo approaching

through the brush

For a moment, a young male freezes

His panic proves contagious

Mother and Joey make their getaway

too

The dingo's no slouch when it comes

to speed

but the 'roos reach 35 miles

per hour

Dingoes have better luck hunting

in packs

when they're after large kangaroos

But when smaller game are plentiful

they tend to hunt alone

Safely away from the wild dog

Mother lets Joey back into the

comforting pouch

Nearby, a big male paces nervously

He's caught the scent of yet

another danger

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