National Geographic: Kangaroo Comeback (1998)

[bunniefuu]

The red kangaroo powerful, comical

engaging this is the desert

dwelling symbol of Australia

But kangaroos can be found almost

anywhere down under

They're up in trees

...on the forest floor

...and can even be found on the rocks

But all the kangaroos face danger

This is the story of a mother

and her Joey

and how he comes into his own

There is tenderness here

in the desert

and the harsh reality of survival

Persecuted by some, revered by others

the red kangaroo has astonishing

tales to tell

This is Australia, the driest

inhabited continent on earth

Sixty million years ago

this land began its final break

from the rest of the world

evolving along a path all its own

Today, its vast, open interior lies

naked in the sun

a land from another place in time

It's unforgiving here, not for

the faint of heart

and survival means marching to

a different b*at

But this dry, hostile landscape

is not devoid of life

it's home to one of the most

astonishing creatures on earth

Kangaroos live in New Guinea

and Australia

yet their name is known far and wide

But while the world may know

a 'roo when it sees one

to science, they're still

something of a riddle

You might think nothing this big

is supposed to hop

But kangaroos do it with speed

and agility

Six-foot marvels of efficient

locomotion

they emerged from the rain forest

then spread over a continent

while adapting to desert heat

This is the story of the

red kangaroo

an amazing tale from the

land down under

It's summertime in the outback

And the 'roos can be found

where there is food

Most red kangaroos are red

in name only the females

and youngsters tend to be gray

The 'roos look like they're

congregating in groups

but it's food, not the company

that draws them together

For kangaroos

the most powerful social bond is

between a mother and her young

And like many of Australia's

astonishing mammals

joeys are raised in a pouch

They spend the first eight months

of their fascinating lives

living in a built-in nursery

This youngster needs a taste of

life outside the pouch

his mother's nearly bursting

at the seams

A wedgetailed eagle waits for his debut

but it's not here to wish

him good luck

Joey doesn't care who's in attendance

He's not in a hurry to come out

His mother has other ideas

She dumps him out in a tangled heap

For the first time

he sets foot in the world

But the place is not to his liking

The eagle watches his entrance

and exit

It's following the show

with keen eyes

A six-foot wingspan

and powerful talons

make the wedgetail

a dangerous observer

For young kangaroos that are

clumsy or careless

death can descend from the sky

Shade is precious in the desert heat

To cool themselves, kangaroos

lick their skin

where blood vessels run close

to the surface

Getting comfortable can be a bigger

problem especially

with a pouch full to the brim

A joey's world revolves around

its mother relationships

don't get much closer than this

The kangaroos languish

It'll be nightfall before there's

any relief from the heat

This old male decides to lay down

afternoon stakes

he's digging a hollow to rest

his giant hips

For the joey, a tail in the face is

worth the security of the pouch

He's safe from predators

and free to keep an eye on

the goings on

His mother's portable nursery

the hallmark of most marsupials

originated in the dinosaur age

One hundred million years ago

rain forest blanketed this land

Only small slivers of green

still remain

lush shrinking Edens clinging to

an island continent's edges

In places no more than 30 miles wide

these ancient rain forests

are endangered

But it was in places like these

that tiny marsupials first made

their Australian appearance

Exactly how they lived in this

isolated world

is a subject for debate

But there's no dispute that evidence

of marsupial origins

can still be found here today

The kangaroo's ancestors started

out in trees much

like this mountain brushtailed possum

which moves through the branches

on all fours

The first marsupials did raise

their young in a pouch

but a tree-bound existence made

them different in many ways

Kangaroo ancestors were probably

good climbers with long toes

sharp claws, and prehensile tails

They may have started out as

leaf-eaters

but leaves are low in nutrition

and difficult to digest

So perhaps Joey's ancestors ventured

out of the trees

in search of sweeter stuff

The dinosaurs were gone by then

but other

deadly reptiles remained

This carpet python is looking

for a meal

And possums have long been a favorite

The possum's keen hearing is no

match for such stealth

The possum escapes with little

more than a good scare

but next time, its luck may not hold

It was 15 million years ago

when the kangaroo's ancestors moved

down to the forest floor

Here beneath the canopy

shaded from heat

many animals are active all day

And in this rich, green, jungle store

there's something for everyone to eat

The musky rat-kangaroo is the smallest

and most primitive of Joey's

living relatives

Weighing in at only one pound

it's the only kangaroo

that doesn't hop

Rat kangaroos live mainly

on the ground

They don't use those tails

for climbing

but for gathering nest-building

materials

And those long, grasping toes are great

for handling a fruit and

insect based diet

Another ancient denizen of

the forest arrives

and the little rat kangaroo beats

a hasty retreat

The cassowary is an unusual animal

that has changed little in millions

of years

These large, flightless birds can

be over five feet tall

and it's the males that look after

the young

Shy birds, these giants shrink

from confrontation

unless there's a thr*at

to their young

Using their huge claws

cassowaries have been known to k*ll

humans in defense of their chicks

But this primeval world where

kangaroos evolved

has been disappearing from Australia

for millennia

And most kangaroos have long since

adapted to harsher stuff

Out in the bush, the days of high

summer have passed

The red kangaroos are more active

during the day

But our joey still spends most of

his time in the pouch

Older ones are venturing out to

enjoy the cooler weather

Red kangaroos are affectionate mothers

She grooms him every day

always keeping her eyes peeled

for danger

She knows he's still small enough

to lure unwanted attention

There is reason for her caution

The wedgetailed eagle is nearby

When the bird takes off

mothers fold their joeys back

into the pouch

With no prospects in the offing

the eagle returns to her nest to

see to her own family business

Her chicks are voracious eaters

They love kangaroo meat

But there's competition in the

predatory arena

Australia's wild dog, the dingo

also lurks wherever kangaroos gather

So the eagle must set out again

Wedgetails are partial to young joeys

but won't take on protective

mothers to get at them

Soon, he'll be as much of a handful

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 k*ll

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

Drifting smoke

Again, the action of one kangaroo

triggers the flight of others

This time they've been frightened

by fire

and they're racing to get away

But this is no wildfire.

It's a w*apon

The Aborigines have been using fire

to hunt for thousands of years

They are after a favorite delicacy

a lizard called a goanna

Some seek refuge from the flame

in trees

others go underground

Here, women use sticks to locate

escape tunnels

then unearth the lizards using

tin cans

A goanna for the barbie is reason

for celebration

but these old ways are disappearing

Today fewer Aborigines use fire

to hunt and

ironically, some kangaroos are

paying the price

The little rufus-hair wallaby depends

on spinifex bushes

that the Aborigines burn

It needs their fires to thrive

They use the old bushes for shelter

But fire promotes the new growth

that feeds the wallaby

and these little spinifex mice

The wallaby eats the bushes'

young leaves

The mice take the seeds

The wallaby burrows into older bushes

which bristle with spiky defenses

But these thorny refuges have

been no match

against the upheaval of the last

two centuries

Since Europeans arrived in 1788

almost half of Australia's kangaroo

species have been declared extinct

endangered, or vulnerable

The whites brought foreign animals

by the boatload

They converted vast areas of land

to grazing

changing the landscape forever

Unlike the soft-footed kangaroos

hard-hooved sheep and cattle wore

away the desert scrub and soil

Livestock paths quickly eroded

into ravines

pastures became wastelands

Rabbits, introduced for the benefit

of hunters

bred out of control

Miles of fences went up in a vain

attempt to contain them

Today, those same fences bewilder

migrating herds of

native animals like the emu

Inevitably, rats and mice accompanied

the Europeans

as did the domestic cat

...which quickly developed a taste

for small kangaroos

So did the fox

They continue to take a dreadful

toll on the kangaroo

Now many of the smaller species

face uncertain futures

But for some kangaroos, the Europeans

provided a bonanza

They dug water bores throughout the

desert to supply their livestock

and the red kangaroo has benefited

ever since

One 19th century naturalist spotted

so few red kangaroos

that he predicted their

ultimate demise

But thanks to the permanent

water supply

the population boomed

When water is readily available

to red kangaroos

they breed like there's no tomorrow

Joey's only been out of the pouch

for two days

but his mother is about to give

birth again

A pink embryo, the size of a bean

makes its first appearance

Blind and deaf

it must somehow find its way to

the mother's pouch or perish

Its hind limbs, destined for

enormity someday

are now just useless buds

It must use its tiny forelimbs

to drag itself

through the tangled forest of

its mother's fur

Instinct keeps it moving up

against the pull of gravity

The epic, six-inch journey

takes over three minutes

Once inside the pouch

it searches out the nipples

Joey's brother was actually

conceived many months ago

but remained in suspended animation

while Mother tended to Joey himself

It is a miraculous process

the key to reproductive success

While a mother raises one joey

out of the pouch

a tiny one grows inside it

and a third waits on hold in the womb

It's time for her to put yet another

embryo in reserve

Just two days after the birth

the big reds start sniffing around

again a sign she's already in heat

Mother won't let Joey into

the pouch anymore

but she still nurses him

occasionally

Amazingly, she now produces two kinds

of milk one for the embryo

another for Joey

Her condition sets some of the

males to jousting

A big newcomer

collared by scientists to track

his wanderings

has thrown his hat into the ring

He's over six feet tall and

clearly dominates the contest

By kangaroo Queensberry rules

only the subdominant male kicks

giving away his inferior position

Mother, now eating for three and

ready to make it four

grazes continuously

But fortunately, Joey increasingly

fends for himself

The very biggest of the males now

finds Mother irresistible

He's huge

She appears to ignore his

persistent attentions

Then, her scent attracts

another suitor

But the dominant old male scoffs

at competition

From a distance

Joey watches the proceedings

The result of this mating will

grow for a few days

then become dormant until Joey's

brother is out of the pouch

With such an ingenious breeding scheme

it is no wonder red kangaroo

numbers exploded

once humans supplied a permanent

source of water

Every year, survey teams take to

the air to count the reds

Their reports will determine the

number of 'roos

that can be hunted legally

the following year

Strewn over the vast harsh desert

at the center of Australia

red kangaroos now number close

to ten million

Out in the open

Mother and Joey quickly recover

from their fright at the plane

Others inevitably encounter the

thousands of miles of fencing

that crisscross the desert...

and sometimes

these encounters are deadly

Australia's kangaroo population

is booming

and several million are culled

each year

Mother and Joey freeze

caught in the hunter's lights

But they're not the quarry

he seeks

The hunter has his sights

on huge red males

Culling kangaroos strikes

many people as cruel

Others argue it's no crueler

than slaughtering livestock

Given Australia's delicate

desert ecology

the kangaroo harvest may prove

more sustainable

than raising sheep and cattle

Aside from hunters' b*ll*ts

kangaroos face another

nighttime hazard

thousands are k*lled each year

on desert highways

Mother and Joey are safe

the next day

but picking up dangerous habits

Strips of green growth parallel

Australia's roads places

where the runoff from occasional

rain nurtures fresh grasses

Feeding along roadsides at night

kangaroos often blunder into

oncoming vehicles

The sheer numbers of red kangaroos

makes this an all too common sight

But in a very different part

of Australia

there are still rare kangaroos

that few people have ever seen

Here, in one of the remaining slices

of primeval forest

the kangaroo story comes full circle

This is Mount Finnigan a place of

reverence for Aborigines

and one of the last strongholds

of one of Joey's most

extraordinary relatives

It takes patience to catch a glimpse

of this elusive creature

and a healthy measure of luck

An experienced woodsman recognizes

telltale claw

marks leading up into the canopy

There it is... Bennett's tree kangaroo

Millions of years after kangaroos

came down out of trees

the Bennetts went back up

In evolutionary terms, they haven't

been up there very long

And those big hind feet seem ill

suited to life among the leaves

While a mother forages

her joey clings uncertainly to

a nearby vine

They look awkward and out of

place up here

but tree kangaroos are very acrobatic

They can make spectacular leaps

of 20 feet from limb to limb

and can safely catapult 60 feet

down if startled

Remarkably, another kind of

kangaroo has also

taken to life in the treetops

This is Lumholtz's tree kangaroo

and like their ground-based cousins

Mother and joey are quite affectionate

As they walk, they move their hind

legs independently

something most 'roos don't do

But nothing compares to big reds

in the desert

where the hop still reigns supreme

Joey's quickly approaching

his mother's size

Her younger joey has recently started

taking his first peak at the world

and will soon outstrip his brother

in the quest for Mother's attention

Joey must now look after himself

and begin mixing it up with other

young males

Right on schedule

he has taken an interest in jousting

Tentatively, he approaches the fray

And while his mother looks on

he gets into his first dust-up

Joey is beginning to look the part

He has all the makings of a big red

Turning adversity into advantage

the red kangaroo has flourished

even as its kangaroo cousins

have struggled or disappeared altogether

This pouch-raised powerhouse is

a marvel of natural engineering

It inherited the harsh expanse

of Australia's desert

and made the landscape its own