Western Grey Kangaroo (Macropus fuliginosus)
The Western Grey Kangaroo is a large and very common macropod, found across almost the entire southern part of Australia, from just south of Shark Bay to coastal South Australia, western Victoria, and the entire Murray-Darling Basin in New South Wales and Queensland. The subspecies on Kangaroo Island, South Australia, is known as the Kangaroo Island Kangaroo. The Western Grey is not found in the tropical north or the fertile south-east of Australia, and the Eastern Grey does not extend beyond the NSW-South Australia border, but the two species are both common in the Murray-Darling Basin area. They never interbreed in the wild, although it has proved possible to produce hybrids between Eastern Grey females and Western Grey males in captivity.
The western grey kangaroo can often been seen in bushland, farmland and beside roads throughout its habitat. As western grey kangaroos spend most of their day under the shade, then move out at dusk to feed until dawn, they can be a hazard when driving from dusk onwards. After rain, they can be particularly hazardous when they move to and from their grazing lands to pools of water by the roadside for a drink.
The beach is one of the last places on expects to find kangaroos, and at the few beaches around the coast where kangaroos are known to frequent on the a regular basis, their presence affords some wonderful photo opportunities.
Surfing kangaroo at Pebbly Beach
At Pebbly Beach in Murramarang National Park, near Batemans Bay, NSW, the local kangaroos not only graze on the grass above the beach and around the cabins, they often jump into the surf and splash around.
At Cape Hillsborough, Qld, kangaroos often loiter around the picnic areas and on the beach during the afternoon and evening, where they feed on the washed up seaweed. A similar things occurs with western grey kangaroos on the other side of the continent near Esperance, WA. At Lucky Bay in Cape Le Grand National Park, seaweed accumulates in deep spongy masses and provides the interesting spectacle of a mob of local kangaroos descending to the beach of an evening to dine on fresh seaweed.
Lucky Bay, WA
At Pambula on the NSW south coast, the normally shy kangaroos graze unperturbed on grasses found around the town, particularly at the caravan park, in spite of human activity nearby, including cars and workers coming and going.
The 18-hole golf course at Anglesea, Vic., is set amidst native bushland, and is home to over three hundred untamed kangaroos, who graze the fairways daily. During early morning and late afternoon, flocks of between fifty and a hundred kangaroos invariably present a hazard to golfers on some fairways. Occasionally, golfers have struck kangaroos with golf balls on their drives, and on one notable occasion, a golfer landed a 'hole-in-one' into the pouch of a kangaroo, which nonchalantly hopped away with the ball still in its pouch!
Anglesea Golf Course
Kangaroos and koalas are the most sought after species of Australian wildlife that overseas visitors want to see during a visit to Australia, so all zoos, wildlife parks and sanctuaries have plenty of kangaroos and wallabies to keep their visitors happy.
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Description
The Western Grey Kangaroo is one of the largest kangaroos. It weighs 28-54 kg and its length is 0.84-1.1m with a 80-100 cm tail, standing approximately 1.3m tall. It exhibits sexual dimorphism with the male up to twice the size of female. It has thick, coarse fur with colour ranging from pale grey to brown; its throat, chest and belly have a paler colour. It feeds at night, mainly on grasses but also on leafy shrubs and low trees. It has a nickname Stinker because mature males have a distinctive curry-like odour.
Habitat
Western grey kangaroos are capable of using several different types of habitats. They can be found in woodlands, open forests, coastal heathland, and open grassland areas. They have also been found near city areas and on golf courses. These kangaroos prefer areas with heterogeneous habitats, because these areas are the most likely to meet their requirements for food and cover.
Behaviour
Western grey kangaroos form social groups called "mobs" consisting of kangaroos living in small family groups of up to 15, with an adult female as the matriarch, other group member females, and young. A daughter often remains close to her mother even after giving birth to a joey of her own. Males compete for dominance of the social groups, with the strongest male becoming the head of a mob. A dominant male kangaroo resides with the mob when females are fertile but separates from the mob in winter when breeding females are unlikely to come into oestrus. During breeding, young males may form single-sex groups that exist seperately from the mobs. Mature males may form loose associations with other males which are not long lasting and vary from year to year. Western grey kangaroos may have home ranges that are as large as 550ha.
Males compete for females, whereby dominant males mate. Dominancy is determined through "boxing", which is a form of male competition.
Western grey kangaroos can breed continuously, but a peak in reproductive activity exists in the seasons of spring and summer. Sexual maturity is reached at approximately 20 months for males and 17 months for females. Females have an oestrous cycle of approximately 35 days. Interestingly, the western grey kangaroo is not capable of embryonic diapause. Usually, only a single offsping weighing approximately 0.8g is born after a mean gestation period of 30.5 days. The offsping, commonly called a joey, will climb from the birth canal to the pouch where it grabs hold of a teat and nurses. The joey will begin to leave the pouch after an average of 46 weeks, and may continue to nurse from the pouch for up to an additional 6 months after leaving the pouch. After the joey has left the pouch, the female is capable of mating again.
Food Habits
Western grey kangaroos eat grasses, forbs, leaves, tree bark, and shrubby browse. They use microorganisms in an organ called the cecum to digest the cellulose of plants. This kangaroo requires very little water and is able to survive on plants high in fiber. Western grey kangaroos spend between 6 and 10 hours grazing per day, mostly at dawn and dusk. In captivity, these kangaroos are often fed a pelleted grain or hay.
Conservation Status
Despite the crop damage from this kangaroo species, it is a protected species and is controlled exclusively by the state faunal authorities. In 1987, there was an estimated population of 1.7 million western grey kangaroos. Permits to harvest the western grey kangaroo are issued in areas where this species interferes with successful agricultural operations or management programs to rehabilitate vegetation communities.
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