Wallaby - who is this? Description of wallaby. Wallaby habitat

Our planet is the richest owner of flora and fauna. How many unusual and amazing animals live on our earth. Some representatives are so mysterious and cute that they cannot be called anything other than a miracle of nature. One of these wonders are kangaroos; they are considered a unique gift of nature.

In total there are more than fifty species of this animal. All representatives have their own characteristics and differences, mainly in the size of the animals and weight. Among the kangaroos, red and gray ones are known, there are even so-called kangaroos, as well as wallaby– medium size, and many others.

Wallabies are marsupials that belong to the Kangaroo family. They are not a separate biological group, but are a collection of varieties that consist of several genera.

Wallabies have a great resemblance to gigantic ones, but the size of these animals is much smaller. Wallaby weight is approximately twenty kilograms, and the height of the animal itself is about seventy centimeters.

However, such a small size of the animal allows it to jump as much as ten meters in length. There are approximately 15 species of wallabies, appearance and the habits of these animals are absolutely identical, the only difference is in their habitat. For example, there are swamp and mountain wallabies, striped ones that live on islands, and so on.

Many of the species of our heroes are on the verge of extinction, no matter how sad it is to admit it, but, for example, striped wallabies remained to live only on two islands off the west coast of Australia. Kangaroo wallaby consider endemic to Australia.

Character and lifestyle

The wallaby animal is very amazing and unusual, this is also proven by the fact that they can be kept as pet. Kangaroo wallaby They are very easy to communicate with humans and can be easily tamed.

However, to do this, the animal must be removed from the wild at a very young age. at a young age, or better yet, in infancy, and feed and raise him yourself. This is a very difficult task, because a baby wallaby requires constant care; at first, feeding is carried out strictly by the clock and from a baby bottle.

In a word, such pet will require considerable physical and moral costs on the part of its owners. The main thing here is not to miss the moment, since adult representatives of this family will no longer succumb to education and taming.

IN wildlife Wallabies prefer to stay in packs. However, male kangaroos do not get along well in one flock. If they have to share a common space, then they demonstrate their dissatisfaction with threatening poses, but at the same time, fights and wars for the rights of the leader occur extremely rarely, since these animals by their nature are not fighters.

Females, in turn, can start a fight with each other. To prevent such conflicts from occurring, a special hierarchy reigns in the pack, where there are dominant individuals and those who are forced to obey them. This helps avoid conflicts between .

By nature, wallabies are very curious and have a very inquisitive mind. They love to travel through the dense vegetation of the tropical forest and explore new territories, constantly expanding their boundaries.

Wallaby habitat consider the jungle, although they often go out to pastures and watering holes. Some species prefer to do this exclusively at night, and in general, they lead an active lifestyle mainly in the dark.

To sleep, they find some kind of shelter and there during the day they restore their strength, and with the onset of darkness they move into the wakefulness phase. Sometimes called wallaby tree kangaroos . This is due to their habit of spending a lot of time in trees.

Wallaby food

Wallabies are herbivores. Wallabies feeding only vegetation that is within their reach. It can be various herbs, leaves of shrubs, various berries. Among the wallaby kangaroos there are those who need high-quality and balanced diet.

Wallabies only eat kangaroos the best varieties plants, special preference is given to certain types of ferns and berries. At the same time, they can also consume animal food in their diet.

To quench their thirst, these animals go to watering holes, but in case of any danger, wallabies can do without water or food. These are quite hardy animals that can tolerate both thirst and hunger for some time.

Reproduction and lifespan of wallabies

Wallaby kangaroos are marsupials; therefore, female wallabies carry their cubs in special bags. Before the birth of offspring, each future mom cares about the future habitat of his child.

Kangaroo mothers carefully wash their pouches and lick them, because this is where she will carry her baby. The pregnancy itself in kangaroos lasts about a month, approximately 30 days.

Wallaby kangaroo offspring, also called joeys, are born very tiny, their size at the time of birth is approximately two centimeters. But they are already capable of the first journey, which they make, getting to the pouch of the mother kangaroo.

Tiny babies do this with the help of very thin and sharp claws, with which they deftly cling to the fur on the mother’s belly. Babies spend their first eight months of life in their mother's pouch. Initially, they are fed by females for approximately 80 days.

A mother's pouch for a kangaroo serves as a home, a playroom, and protection in case of any danger. Photo of wallaby kangaroo cause tenderness, especially if you can see the head of a baby kangaroo sticking out of the bag.

Wallaby kangaroo lifespan natural environment is approximately 14 to 20 years old. As a pet, wallabies usually live for about 10 years, but everything will depend on their diet and living conditions.


, New Guinea And Bismarck Archipelago. They live mainly in thickets bushes and in forests, but can also be found on open spaces, V steppes. Wallabies were also introduced to New Zealand and on British Isles, where the largest colony is located on the island Maine.

Forest wallabies(genus Dorcopsis), living in the territory New Guinea, are represented by five types.

Kinds



Fictional wallabies

Write a review about the article "Wallaby"

Notes

Links

Excerpt describing Wallaby

Meanwhile, another column was supposed to attack the French from the front, but Kutuzov was with this column. He knew well that nothing but confusion would come out of this battle that had begun against his will, and, as far as it was in his power, he held back the troops. He didn't move.
Kutuzov rode silently on his gray horse, lazily responding to proposals to attack.
“You’re all about attacking, but you don’t see that we don’t know how to do complex maneuvers,” he said to Miloradovich, who asked to go forward.
“They didn’t know how to take Murat alive in the morning and arrive at the place on time: now there’s nothing to do!” - he answered the other.
When Kutuzov was informed that in the rear of the French, where, according to the Cossacks’ reports, there had been no one before, there were now two battalions of Poles, he glanced back at Yermolov (he had not spoken to him since yesterday).
- They’re asking for an offensive, they’re offering various projects, but as soon as you get down to business, nothing is ready, and the forewarned enemy takes his measures.
Ermolov narrowed his eyes and smiled slightly when he heard these words. He realized that the storm had passed for him and that Kutuzov would limit himself to this hint.
“He’s having fun at my expense,” Ermolov said quietly, nudging Raevsky, who was standing next to him, with his knee.
Soon after this, Ermolov moved forward to Kutuzov and respectfully reported:
- Time has not been lost, your lordship, the enemy has not left. What if you order an attack? Otherwise the guards won’t even see the smoke.
Kutuzov said nothing, but when he was informed that Murat’s troops were retreating, he ordered an offensive; but every hundred steps he stopped for three quarters of an hour.
The whole battle consisted only in what Orlov Denisov’s Cossacks did; the rest of the troops only lost several hundred people in vain.
As a result of this battle, Kutuzov received a diamond sign, Bennigsen also received diamonds and a hundred thousand rubles, others, according to their ranks, also received a lot of pleasant things, and after this battle even new movements were made at headquarters.
“This is how we always do things, everything is topsy-turvy!” - Russian officers and generals said after the Battle of Tarutino, - just as they say now, making it feel like someone stupid is doing it this way, inside out, but we wouldn’t do it that way. But people who say this either do not know the matter they are talking about or are deliberately deceiving themselves. Every battle - Tarutino, Borodino, Austerlitz - is not carried out as its managers intended. This is an essential condition.
An innumerable number of free forces (for nowhere is a person freer than during a battle, where it is a matter of life and death) influences the direction of the battle, and this direction can never be known in advance and never coincides with the direction of any one force.
If many, simultaneously and variously directed forces act on some body, then the direction of movement of this body cannot coincide with any of the forces; and there will always be an average, shortest direction, what in mechanics is expressed by the diagonal of a parallelogram of forces.
If in the descriptions of historians, especially French ones, we find that their wars and battles are carried out according to a certain plan in advance, then the only conclusion that we can draw from this is that these descriptions are not true.
The Tarutino battle, obviously, did not achieve the goal that Tol had in mind: to bring troops into action in order, according to disposition, and the one that Count Orlov could have had; to capture Murat, or the goals of instantly exterminating the entire corps, which Bennigsen and other persons could have, or the goals of an officer who wanted to get involved and distinguish himself, or a Cossack who wanted to acquire more booty than he acquired, etc. But , if the goal was what actually happened, and what was a common desire for all Russian people then (the expulsion of the French from Russia and the extermination of their army), then it will be completely clear that the Tarutino battle, precisely because of its inconsistencies, was the same , which was needed during that period of the campaign. It is difficult and impossible to imagine any outcome of this battle that would be more expedient than the one it had. With the least tension, with the greatest confusion and with the most insignificant loss, the greatest results of the entire campaign were achieved, the transition from retreat to offensive was made, the weakness of the French was exposed and the impetus that Napoleon’s army had only been waiting for to begin their flight was given.

Napoleon enters Moscow after a brilliant victory de la Moskowa; there can be no doubt about victory, since the battlefield remains with the French. The Russians retreat and give up the capital. Moscow, filled with provisions, weapons, shells and untold riches, is in the hands of Napoleon. Russian army, twice as weak as the French, does not make a single attempt to attack for a month. Napoleon's position is most brilliant. In order to fall with double forces on the remnants of the Russian army and destroy it, in order to negotiate an advantageous peace or, in case of refusal, to make a threatening move towards St. Petersburg, in order to even, in case of failure, return to Smolensk or Vilna , or stay in Moscow - in order, in a word, to maintain the brilliant position in which the French army was at that time, it would seem that no special genius is needed. To do this, it was necessary to do the simplest and easiest thing: to prevent the troops from looting, to prepare winter clothes, which would be enough in Moscow for the entire army, and to properly collect the provisions that were in Moscow for more than six months (according to French historians) for the entire army. Napoleon, this most brilliant of geniuses and who had the power to control the army, as historians say, did nothing of this.

On the face there is a clear picture. Kangaroos of this genus usually stand upright, leaning on their hind legs and tail like a tripod.

Basic data:
DIMENSIONS
Body length: male 92 cm, female up to 76 cm.
Tail length: male up to 105 cm, female up to 86 cm.
Weight: male 20-25 kg, female 11-15 kg.

REPRODUCTION
Puberty: males - from 24-30 months, females - from 18-24 months.
Mating season: different times of the year.
Pregnancy: 36 days.
Number of cubs: 1.

LIFESTYLE
Habits: social animals; active during the day.
Food: herbs, ferns.
Sounds: when in danger, the female hisses and growls.
Life expectancy: up to 18 years.

Related species
The gray-red wallaby is very similar to the described species.

In many English speaking countries The wallaby is called the "thin-tailed wallaby" because of its long, thin and pointed tail. The wallaby's tail is slightly longer than its body. Wallabies stand upright, supported by their hind legs and tail.
Wallaby breeding. After a short pregnancy, a female wallaby gives birth to an underdeveloped baby. It becomes able to survive only after a period of “adaptation” in the mother’s pouch. The baby must develop only the front limbs, with which he tucks into the pouch. The female wallaby may mate again before the baby is old enough to leave its shelter. A few days after the eldest cub leaves the pouch, his newborn brother or sister climbs into it. The pregnancy of a female wallaby lasts only 5 weeks. The baby develops in the pouch for up to 8 months. Even after he leaves the mother's pouch, the child remains with his mother for another 15 months. At this time, he acquires all the necessary skills - he learns to run quickly, jump, recognize danger and find food. The cub also learns to care for its fur. Fights for position in the herd are a very serious test for males. Impatient young males, who have already become sexually mature, constantly hurt their elders and provoke fights, which in most cases cannot be avoided. Clashes between males occur in several stages, since the older rival is in no way inferior.
Wallaby food. Wallabies feed on so-called “kangaroo grass” and sometimes eat various ferns. This wallaby often grazes with gray kangaroos, but the animals eat herbs and do not compete with each other. Wallabies prefer certain types of grass, while avoiding others. Wallabies graze in small herds of 2-10 animals. During feeding, they stand upright and bring food into the mouth with their front paws. Even on days when the heat reaches its climax, animals do not go to the river to drink, since they receive all the necessary moisture with food.
Wallaby They often graze during the day, while other species of kangaroos are active at dusk or at night. At midday, wallabies rest in the shade. In the evening they again go in search of food. During such searches, the animals move rather slowly, such slowness is the result of the sweltering heat.
Wallaby lifestyle. Wallabies inhabit rolling plains covered with light eucalyptus forests, herds of these animals scour in search of food. Felling large areas forests did not have a significant effect on the number of wallabies.
Grassy plains covered with dense vegetation provide food and shelter for animals. Nature reserves in south-east Queensland and north-east New South Wales provide particularly large populations of wallabies.

OR DID YOU KNOW THAT...

The first image of a kangaroo was published in 1770 p. , After the completion of J. Cook's expedition to Australia. The model for it was probably the red kangaroo.
In Australia, wallabies are called "gray flyers" because they are able to move very quickly in huge leaps. In some languages, the animal is named Parry wallaby in honor of the American naturalist and discoverer, Dr. Parry, who lived in the 19th century. Another name for wallaby is, for example, wallaby with a “pretty face”.

Characteristics

Ears: Large and rounded.
Coat: grayish brown on the upper side of the body, whitish on the belly.
Tail: Long, thin and pointed at the end.
Muzzle: dark brown, with white stripes on the cheeks and chin.
Forelegs: with long, curved claws.

LIVING PLACE
Wallabies live in Australia in south-east Queensland and north-east New South Wales.
PRESERVATION
Thanks to the organization of reserves and national parks The wallaby is not in danger of extinction. The Australian Department of Conservation is responsible for the protection of all kangaroos, but allows limited killing of this species for preventive purposes.


If you liked our site, tell your friends about us!

Unlike regular Australian kangaroos, these are smaller in size, so they are sometimes kept indoors. An adult weighs 8–14 kg, and average weight- 10.5 kg. In addition, the Bennett wallaby has relatively short hind limbs and relatively large forelimbs.

Males are larger than females. The weight of adult males ranges from 11.5 to 13.7 kg, and females - from 8 to 10.6 kg. Their main body color is dark brown, and their throat, belly, and chin are lighter. This variety of kangaroo has black legs, a grayish forehead, and the fur on the neck, muzzle, shoulders, and back of the head is rusty. Their characteristic feature - black spot at the base of the tail.

Distribution of mini-kangaroos


Bennett's wallabies live in wet tropical forests Australia on a very limited territory, which occupies about 4 thousand square meters. km - in the south from the Daintree River and in the north to Mount Amos.

It is not for nothing that this type of kangaroo is called an arboreal kangaroo, since these animals usually settle in the crowns of trees, but can move along the ground and feed on fruits and leaves that have fallen to the ground.

Bennett's wallaby diet


Bennett's wallabies eat leaves of bushes, trees, and grass. If they have plenty of fresh grass, they can go without drinking for a long time, taking moisture from it. If dry weather sets in, these small, dexterous kangaroos dig up the soil with their large forelimbs and extract from it the succulent roots of plants, which at the same time serve as food and drink for them.

While eating, they stand on four legs, sometimes standing on their hind legs to explore the surroundings. At the same time, they rely on their strong tail.

Mini-kangaroo behavior


Bennett's kangaroos are agile animals. Using their prehensile tail, they can jump to a nearby tree, even if it means flying 7-9 meters down! But this is not the limit.

If a wallaby urgently needs to descend from a tree to the ground, from a height of 18 meters, they will do it in one jump and will not crash. But they undertake such extreme descents only as a last resort or fall accidentally when moving along the branches; in flight they instantly group themselves, so they do not get injured. They usually climb down the tree trunk, moving backwards.

In general, these representatives of red-gray kangaroos are very careful. They move around their territory mainly in the evening or in the morning, at the same time they look for food and feed, and on a hot day they rest in the shade of trees.


These kangaroos are mostly solitary. Adult males strictly guard their territory, preventing competitors from entering, while females are allowed entry. On this basis, conflicts often break out among males, so you can see Bennett's wallaby with scars or even a missing ear, which he lost in an unequal battle.

The territories of red-and-gray kangaroos are mainly located around large trees. During the day they are almost invisible, because during the daytime rest, they climb high into the tree and hide behind leaves and vines.

If these kangaroos live in favorable places where food is abundant, there are sources of water, and there is no shortage of shelters, then wallabies can form groups in which a social hierarchy is established.

Wallaby breeding


Bennett's wallabies live in tropical forests, where there are small differences between seasons, so they breed at almost any time, but more often before July. Females give birth to only one young.

Pregnancy lasts a little more than a month, then a very small kangaroo is born, weighing 1 gram. But he clearly follows in the right direction, making his way into his mother’s pouch, where he will feed and grow until he becomes independent. This will be when he is 9 months old. In the meantime, a few minutes after birth, he firmly attaches himself to the nipple, from where he receives the milk he needs so much. The baby is still weak and undeveloped, he cannot even suck. Therefore, during the first months, the female mother, contracting special muscles, injects portions of milk into his mouth.

The baby is warm in the mother's pouch, where he continues to grow and develop. Along with this process, the composition of milk and its quantity changes. In the first six months, he receives milk, in which more than half of the dry matter is carbohydrates. Then the amount of fat gradually increases, and carbohydrates practically disappear by 8–9 months.

But the bag contains room not only for this baby, but also for his younger brother or sisters. When the newborn is a few days old, the female mates again. But this embryo will be born later than the older kangaroo. This process is regulated in a very interesting way.

The older baby no longer sucks milk as intensively as before, since he is already leaving the pouch and begins to feed on leaves and grass. This allows the second embryo to develop again.

The female Bennett's wallaby has 4 nipples. A couple of days before the birth of the second baby, the mother tidies up her bag and does not yet allow the grown kangaroo to suckle. When will he be born? youngest son, will reach the pouch and take the nipple intended for him into his mouth, then the older cub can continue to be fed with milk. It will be different in quantity and composition for two cubs. What was described above.

In a month, the older, older kangaroo will leave the pouch. But he will still be near his mother. Grown-up males leave her when they turn 2 years old, and females can stay next to their mother, on her territory, all their lives. Females enter sexual maturity at 14 months, and males at 19 months.


At first glance, it seems problematic to keep kangaroos of this species in captivity, but this is not so. It is enough to build an enclosure five by five meters and put there a small insulated house that he needs. There the kangaroo will be able to hide from the rain, shelter from the wind and cold. This is how a purchased wallaby kangaroo is kept. When he gets used to the new living conditions, then he will move freely throughout the entire area, but when he wants, he will be able to rest again or wait out the bad weather in his small home.

In winter, Bennett's wallaby can withstand temperatures down to -10°C, but the main thing is that the kangaroo's home is dry. Therefore, put sawdust there and lay a thick layer of hay. But the animal will not be there all the time in winter. Bennetts love to wander in the snow, and they come into their home to warm themselves, sleep or eat.

Their winter diet in captivity it consists of hay, vegetables, crackers, fruits, grain, and a certain amount of mixed feed. In summer they are fed mainly on grass, with the addition of grains and fruits. They need to be given fresh branches of fruit trees with buds and leaves and acacia.

Don't forget that kangaroos are shy animals. If you have a dog, introduce your new pet gradually. After all, when frightened, a kangaroo can panic and run away and crash into an obstacle.

If you want to buy a kangaroo, it is better to buy a pair, and ideally one male and two or three females, but you can also buy one kangaroo animal. The price for it ranges from 100 to 200 thousand rubles. You can buy a Bennett wallaby kangaroo for $1,250.

Then you will acquire an affectionate, good-natured animal, which, if treated well, will become yours. true friend for 10–12 years. That's how long they live good conditions in captivity, but less in nature.

For more information about Bennett's wallaby, watch this video:



Similar articles