There are more than 50 kinds of kangaroos in Australia. The kangaroo is a marsupial. A marsupial has a pouch.

The red kangaroo is the world’s largest marsupial. It is five feet tall. The grey kangaroo is almost as big. The rat kangaroo is the smallest. A tree kangaroo lives in the forest trees.

A kangaroo has strong back legs. It has large back feet. It moves fast by jumping with its strong back legs. The kangaroo has a long tail. The tail helps the kangaroo balance its body. The kangaroo has large front teeth for eating. It eats 7 to 14 hours a day!

A joey is a baby kangaroo. It is the size of a small jellybean when it is born. It has no hair. It cannot hear or see. The joey crawls into its mother’s pouch as soon as it is born. The joey pokes its head out when it is three or four months old. It leaves the pouch when it is ten months.

Farmers think kangaroos are pests. A kangaroo can hop over fences. It will eat plants and grasses that are meant for sheep. The kangaroo looks like a boxer when it fights. A male kangaroo fights when he wants to be the leader. A young kangaroo play-fights by kicking other kangaroos.

A kangaroo talks by coughing. It also makes clicking or clucking sounds. The kangaroo warns others of danger by thumping its feet on the ground.