MACROPUS GIGANTEUS
The eastern grey kangaroo lives primarily in Tasmania and Eastern Australia. While you can find them in the grassland and open woodlands, they prefer the heavy scrub and forest of the damp coast and mountains. At the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo you can see eastern grey kangaroos in the Australian Adventure Outback.
In the wild, these kangaroos will eat mostly grasses and small plants. At the zoo, they eat grass hay, carrots, apples and herbivore pellets.
Their fur is short, silver-grey, and darker on hands, toes, and tail.
Eastern grey kangaroos have large ears and excellent hearing. Their powerful hind legs, long feet, and a long muscular tail make these kangaroos excellent jumpers. Eastern grey kangaroos talk with clucking and grunting sounds.
Eastern grey kangaroos live in mobs with one large mature male, two to three females with joeys, and two or three younger males. Competition for a female may lead to fights between males. The baby, called a joey, is only the size of a jellybean at birth! This tiny infant must crawl to its mothers pouch, where it will feed and grow for several months. After 11 months the joey is old enough to leave the protection of the pouch.
Many mobs will graze together on grasslands. When feeding, they move with all four feet on the ground. Their tail acts as a support when grazing and as a balance when hopping. Eastern grey kangaroos rest in the shade during the afternoon. When the weather is extremely hot, they dig holes and sleep in the cool soil.
