Eastern Gray Kangaroo

At the first mention of kangaroo, what most people visualize is a quadruped Australian marsupial standing on its hind legs and carrying young one in its pouch. Giving due importance to the large body buildup, the eastern gray kangaroo along with red kangaroo and wallaroos are listed under great kangaroos. In total, there are about 50 different types of kangaroos, which differ greatly in their size, appearance, diet, behavior and other attributes.

Facts about Eastern Gray Kangaroo

As the name goes, the gray kangaroo coat is light steely gray in color. Classified under the family of large feet animals Macropodidae, it is scientifically named as Macropus giganteus. Despite the species name, it is not the largest species, but is smaller than the red kangaroo. An adult gray kangaroo measures about 6 feet in height and weight is not more than 60 kg for male, and 32 kg for adult female. For your reference about this Australian animal, eastern gray kangaroo facts and information are explained below.

Adaptations
As far as adaptations of gray kangaroo are concerned, it is naturally gifted with strong hind legs. This great kangaroo has the ability to hop at a high speed (56 km per hour) with a single jump measuring about 8 m distance and 6 m height. While hopping and standing, the long tail is used for support mechanism. Kangaroo characteristics like swiveling of ears, dependent movement of legs, using forelegs for grasping objects and crawling walk are applicable to the eastern gray kangaroo as well.

Habitat
Kangaroo habitat is widely distributed in Australia. The habitat of this kangaroo primarily falls in the eastern and southern regions of Australia, especially in open grasslands and woodlands. Groups of gray kangaroos (mobs) graze together in the open grasslands. They also loiter in forest edge and forest floor. With greater adaptability to various habitat range, the gray kangaroos are considered as the most opportunistic species of all large kangaroo types.

Diet
Diet for gray kangaroos chiefly comprises grasses. Hence, a simple way to find this great kangaroo is look for open pastures with remnants of grasses. Being a nocturnal creature, it tends to rest in shade during bright sunlight, and comes out for grazing in open grasslands when the temperature cools down. The gray kangaroo is often spotted resting amongst trees. For info on food habit of kangaroos as a whole, you can refer to Buzzle article, what do kangaroos eat.

Behavior
Gray kangaroo shows social behavior (not territorial) and prefers to live in groups. Each group consists of one dominant male, 2-3 other males and 2-3 female kangaroos with their young ones. For this marsupial animal, the leader male holds its position for about a year's period. Both the female and joey make various sounds, mimicking clucks and squeaks, for communication purposes. Individuals with the same group fight very rarely for food and shelter.

Reproduction
The male gray kangaroo (boomer) becomes sexually mature after about 25 months, while the female (flier) attains sexual maturity within 17-28 months. After mating, the female enters a gestation period, and gives birth to a joey under favorable conditions. The newborn is much smaller than a cherry fruit, and stays in the pouch for 2 months consecutively. In general, a joey is weaned after 550 days.

It won't be wrong to say that, the female kangaroo remains pregnant in most times. However, the female gives birth only when food is available and weather conditions are favorable, thus increasing the survival rate of a young joey. During drought spells and food scarcity, the fertilized embryo is kept at a pause state. At one time, a female can nourish two young ones, a newborn joey in the pouch and an older joey that still suckles its mother. Surprisingly, the mother kangaroo secretes two types of milk to meet the nutrition requirements of the young joey and older joey.

On an average, the lifespan of eastern gray kangaroo is about 18 years in the wild habitat. However, when kept in captivity with proper care, this marsupial can live to more than 20 years. In the wild, the dingoes are natural predators of these great kangaroos. In the present scenario, the population of gray kangaroo reaches about 2 million, hence there is no threat for becoming extinct.