The endangered kangaroo: causes and information

We all know kangaroos , they are powerful animals, with strong hind legs and a robust tail that help them to make their big jumps on their way, a way with which they move instead of running, they can reach 70 km / h. The kangaroo is an endemic species of Australia , this means that it is a particular species of this area, it is not found anywhere else naturally. They are herbivorous animals, they measure around 1.5 meters, reach 80 kg in weight and can live up to 18 years.

On the other hand, they are called marsupials because of the bag or pouch they have in the gut area, where they protect their young until approximately 8 months of age. Know well what are marsupial animals and examples , because kangaroos are not the only ones, in this link.

Another of its characteristics is the way of regulating body temperature, the heat of Australia has forced them to draw on resources to cope with temperatures, the method they use is simple, they lick their feet and rub their breasts to reduce the heat.

Find out more about this animal in this other AgroCorrn article about the kangaroo, where it lives and what it eats .

There are several species of kangaroos :

• Red kangaroo or Macropus rufus: this species of kangaroo is the largest of all, they can reach 2 meters in height and their coat is reddish brown on the upper part, hence the name. They usually inhabit the central and western part of the country.
• Eastern gray kangaroo, giant kangaroo or Macropus giganteus: it is slightly smaller than the red kangaroo although the difference is small, it inhabits the eastern part of the country.
• Western gray kangaroo or Macropus fuliginosus: they live in the western part of the country, they weigh 54 kg, so they are smaller than the previous ones. A curiosity of the males is that they emit a smell similar to that of curry.

As mentioned before, the kangaroo is one of the millions of species that are under threat of extinction in some way. The kangaroo is NOT in danger of extinction or threatened in such a radical and alarming way as it is with other species, such as the Iberian wolf or the Iberian lynx , but that is not why we should not worry. Meet here the animals in greatest danger of extinction .

The kangaroo is under the category of “least concern” , this does not mean that we should not pay attention to its case (since it does have threats and some increase a lot day by day), but that there are species of greater risk of extinction.

Below we show the threat categories that currently exist on the Red List prepared by the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature).

As you can see, the kangaroo would be found on the first step of the pyramid, but we insist, no less important, because the living being that is now extinct was one day on the first step.

We will probably not mention all the causes that cause extinctions because they are surely infinite due to various factors, but we will give an overview of the most common causes of extinctions :

• Natural and arson fires.
• Contamination.
• Forest clearing for paper industries, large-scale food cultivation, etc.
• Deforestation for infrastructure construction.
• Introduction of alien or alien species, which easily become invasive species.
• Poaching or uncontrolled hunting.
• Climate change.

As you can see, there are natural causes and anthropic or human causes. All the above causes lead to the destruction of the habitat, thus causing the loss of biodiversity until its extinction if corrective or preventive measures are not used. Others directly affect the species, such as illegal hunting and trafficking, and these through this affect the ecosystem and habitat.

Taking into account all the causes that we have mentioned above, we can establish that the methods to avoid the accelerated extinction of species are:

• Avoid fires: cleaning of wooded areas, surveillance, dissemination and collaboration if we see suspicious people or the event itself.
• Avoid pollution: recycle, use public transport or take advantage of new transport applications.
• Environmental legislation, such as toughening standards and laws such as paying fines for polluting.
• Greater control at airports and ports to avoid the introduction or commercialization of species.

Surely you can think of many more things to solve or reduce these problems, from AgroCorrn we encourage you to apply them as much as possible and share them, since any small or large dissemination will add points on the path of change and conservation.

Finally, we want to recommend reading this other article on Why it is important to protect animals in danger of extinction .

If you want to read more articles similar to The endangered kangaroo: causes and information , we recommend that you enter our category of Endangered Animals .