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© Sedgwick County Zoo, credit: Jim Marlett

Wallaroo

Macropus robustus

Physical Characteristics

  • These members of the kangaroo family are shorter, but more heavily built than typical kangaroos. The long, shaggy fur is thick and coarse and red-brown to very dark blue-gray. Males are darker than females. The tapered tail acts as a rudder when leaping and as a third leg when sitting.
  • Size of average adult
    • height: male = 3 - 5 feet, female = 2.5 - 3 feet, tail = 24 - 35 inches
    • weight: 44 - 121 pounds
  • Approximate life span is 20 years.

Diet

  • Wild: grass

Behavior

  • Primarily crepuscular or nocturnal, feeding from late afternoon to early morning and resting during the day
  • When grazing have a "five-footed" gait, balancing on their tail and forearms while swinging their hind legs forward
  • Solitary
  • Reproduction
    • sexual maturity: 2 years
    • breeding season: throughout year
    • gestation: 32 days
    • the newborn joey climbs from the birth canal to the pouch unassisted and starts to suckle; it first releases the nipple at 70 days, pokes it head out at 150 days and leaves the pouch at 190 days

Environmental/Global

  • Habitat: mountains and rocky hill country
  • Distribution: Australia except Tasmania
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