Western Gray Kangaroo
Newborn Kangaroo
A tiny newborn kangaroo could fit in a teaspoon.
Kangaroo at Eight Weeks
Pouch babies
A newborn kangaroo is smaller than a grown-up’s thumb. A newborn koala
is even smaller. And a newborn opossum is smaller still—smaller than a
bee.
These are the most helpless of the mammal babies. After they are born,
they spend their first months in their mothers’ pouches. They don’t even
peek out. They just drink milk and grow.
Then for a few weeks or months they play jack- in-the-box games with
their mothers. They spend part of the time out of the pouch. But they
hurry back inside when they are afraid of something.
After they leave the pouches, the babies stay close to their mothers.
Opossum babies go with their mother when she looks for food. They ride
on her back.
The koala baby rides piggyback. It hangs on tight as the mother koala
moves through the treetops eating eucalyptus leaves. The young one stays
with its mother until it is about a year old.
The kangaroo baby is called a joey. It outgrows its pouch when it is
about 8 months old. Then it hops along beside its mother. It may stay
with her until it is about 18 months old, or perhaps even longer.
Although these babies are tiny and weak at first, they grow into big,
strong animals. The full-grown opossum is about as big as a house cat.
The full-grown koala is a bit larger. The kangaroo, when it is grown, is
nearly as tall as a full-grown person.
A baby koala rides piggyback wherever its mother goes.
Koala
A mother opossum takes her young for a ride.
Opossum
