NEW RESEARCH SHOWS KANGAROOS FORM COMPLEX RELATIONSHIPS
Credit for the banner photo on this page Maggie King.
Photo taken on our 4th project, Gwyder River Sanctuary.
Excerpts below from a study published in Animal Behaviour and an article from Yahoo News.
We found that kangaroo mothers become more social when caring for joeys (which is the opposite of what we previously thought). We also uncovered new evidence that indicates kangaroos could potentially form long-term relationships.
This research, published in Animal Behaviour, sheds new light on the behaviour of Australia’s most iconic animal.
If you’re lucky enough to have some living near you, you’ll notice they are rarely alone. What you might not notice is how often their small groups (called mobs) fluctuate throughout the day.
Kangaroos have a loose “fission–fusion” social structure, which means mobs often split and reform. Knowing this, we wanted to see just how strong kangaroo relationships actually are, and how these relationships changed over several years.
The best way to tell kangaroos apart (for humans) is the unique shape of their ears, because both the outline of the ears and the inner ear tufts remain very similar throughout the years. New scars can change the overall ear shape, but we were careful to watch out for those.
Using this method, we identified 130 individual kangaroos. We then looked at which kangaroos appeared next to each other in the same photograph to get an idea of what their social groups looked like.
We also gave each kangaroo a social score based on how many other kangaroos they associated with and how “popular” these associates were.
GWYDER RIVER SANCTUARY
The Gwyder River Sanctuary is made up of mostly White Box-Yellow Box-Blakely’s Red Gum Grassy Woodland which is listed as a critically endangered ecological community under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
A wide variety of critically endangered and at-risk species rely on this habitat including the Regent Honey Eater and the Bell’s Turtle.
YOU can help Save Our Woodlands maintain the important biodiversity and ecosystem of NSW.
Please help us protect the water table, soil health, and habitat for wildlife and future generations – before it’s too late.
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Save Our Woodlands is an environmentally conscious group of volunteers dedicated to preserving threatened birds, animals and ecosystems in the woodlands of New South Wales, Australia.
Only 15% of our woodlands remain, the rest has been cleared for agriculture.
Save Our Woodlands Inc. secures and protects woodlands in NSW and pays landholders, in perpetuity, to conserve, enhance and re-establish native woodlands on THEIR land, and to manage these woodlands, so they are maintained.
BUT we need YOUR help. Together we can bring about change. Please consider donating.
People tend to think that woodlands are “just bush,” consequently, over 85% of the native woodlands in New South Wales, Australia have been replaced by agriculture.
Donate $10 per month & help protect critical habitats. By doing so YOU will prevent further species from extinction.
Our work is only possible with your support.
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