Kangaroo with joey

Outback Station in the Orkin Children’s Zoo features Zoo Atlanta’s Australian animal species.

Red Kangaroo Macropus rufus

The kangaroo’s name actually derives from a misunderstanding. Upon arriving in Australia, an early European explorer asked an Aborigine, “What are those strange hopping animals?” Not comprehending, the Aborigine replied, “kangaroo,” which meant, “I don’t understand.” The European thought he was naming the animal, and the name stuck.

Range and habitat
Red kangaroos inhabit the vast grasslands and deserts of Australia. Kangaroos are not considered endangered and are numerous in Australia. (There are an estimated 20,000 collisions between kangaroos and motor vehicles every year.)

Kangaroos live in groups of three to 10 animals called mobs. Male kangaroos are called boomers, females are called blue flyers and babies are called joeys. Males can grow to five feet tall and weigh almost 200 pounds; females are slightly smaller, at 3 ½ feet tall and 60 to 80 pounds

Reproduction
Red kangaroos are the largest of the world’s marsupials, a unique group of mammals that carry their young in pouches. This highly adapted reproductive system allows a mother kangaroo to have a baby in the pouch, an embryo developing in the uterus and a fertilized egg waiting to be implanted, all at the same time.

Cool kangaroo fact!
Unlike many other mammals, kangaroos do not rely merely on perspiration to cool their bodies. When kangaroos stop hopping, they stop sweating and begin panting. They are the only mammals that switch in this manner when exercise stops. Kangaroos also have dense networks of fine blood vessels close to the surface of their forearms, and they lick their forearms to cool themselves.

Outback Station in the Orkin Children's Zoo was supported by The Gary W. & Ruth M. Rollins Foundation and Orkin, Inc.

Additional support for kangaroos was provided by Lessie Smithgall in honor of Sue Bailey Sullivan.