ENDANGERED ANIMAL---tree kangaroo

ENDANGERED
ANIMAL

Tree kangaroo



TREE KANGAROO Weight
-up to 32 pounds
• In 1990, a new species of tree kangaroo,
the golden-mantled tree kangaroo, was
discovered in the Torricelli Mountains of
Papua New Guinea. It had a chestnut-
brown coat, pale belly and a double stripe
of gold down its back. A second
population of the marsupial was
discovered on the Indonesian side of the
New Guinea island in 2005, but there are
few of these animals and their population
is thought to be decreasing. Scientists
estimate that the golden-mantled tree
kangaroo has been extirpated from 99% Length
of its historical range, its numbers driven -16 to 30 inches , tail long
low by habitat destruction and hunting. additional 16 to 34 inches

FACTS

• The same factors that threaten the golden-mantled
tree kangaroo also put many of the 13 other tree
kangaroo species at risk. Many tree kangaroo species
are incredibly rare and most are decreasing in
number. These animals represent an interesting
divergence in the evolution of Macropods—the
family of marsupials that includes kangaroos and
wallabies. Macropods were once all tree dwellers
but millions of years ago they descended from the
trees to live on the ground. The ancestors of tree
kangaroos eventually headed back up into the
foliage and they are now the largest tree-dwelling
mammals in Australia.

• Tree kangaroos live in lowland and mountainous
rainforests in Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and the
far north of Queensland, Australia. They have
adapted to life in the trees, with shorter legs and
stronger forelimbs for climbing, giving them
somewhat of the appearance of a cross between a
kangaroo and a lemur.

PARENTING

• Female tree kangaroos give birth to one offspring after a
gestation period of approximately 44 days. After birth, the
fetus-like young, called a joey, crawls to a teat located inside
the mother's pouch, where it attaches itself to nurse. The
majority of the infant's development occurs during this
lactation phase.

• The joey remains in the pouch for about ten months. The
mother will clean her pouch and groom the infant often
during this phase. After the infant initially leaves the pouch at
eight months, it will continue to return to the pouch to nurse.
This “in and out” phase lasts for one or two months. During
the final phase, the young still nurses but never climbs
completely into the pouch.

• Young tree kangaroos are weaned when they are
approximately 13 months old. They stay with their mothers
until they are about 18 months old, when they disperse and
establish a home range.

SOCIAL BEHAVIOR

• Little is known about the social behavior of wild tree kangaroos.
Researchers believe that Matschie's tree kangaroos are fairly
solitary animals. Females and males have non-overlapping home
ranges, but a male's range will overlap several females' range.
Researchers also believe that Matschie's tree kangaroos are
polygamous and that males interact with several females. Males,
however, appear not to establish harems, and females remain
independent. The only strong social bond these animals form is
between mother and offspring.

• In captivity, if females are isolated from all other animals after
becoming pregnant, offspring almost always survive. These
observations show that Matschie's tree kangaroos are mostly
solitary animals.

LIFE SPAN

• Tree kangaroos are very difficult to study in the wild so their
average lifespan is unknown, but it is likely 15-20 years.
However, in captivity they can live for more than 20 years! The
oldest known tree kangaroo is 27 years old.

• Tree kangaroos are mostly solitary but mother/offspring pairs
will form a strong bond until the offspring is old enough to take
care of itself at about 18 months. In the wild, male tree
kangaroos will often mate with several different females.

What do they eat

In the wild, tree kangaroos will primarily eat leaves,as well as
fern ,moss , tree bark, and flowers such as orchids.

WHY THEY MATTER

• AUSTRALIA’S LARGEST TREE-DWELLING MAMMALS
• Millions of years ago the ancestors of Macropods—

the family of marsupials that includes kangaroos
and wallabies—descended from the trees. But one
group of Macropods, known as tree kangaroos,
eventually returned to that arboreal life.

THREATS

• Indigenous peoples throughout the tree kangaroo’s
range hunt the animals for food, sometimes using dogs
to track them down. For several species, hunting alone
has driven these marsupials close to extinction..

WHAT WWF IS DOING

• COMBATING ILLEGAL HUNTING
• WWF collaborates with programs such as TRAFFIC, the

wildlife trade monitoring network, to reduce illegal
hunting and works to raise awareness about the effects
of hunting tree kangaroos and other species
• REDUCING HABITAT LOSS
• To reduce habitat lost through deforestation, WWF
works to decrease illegal logging and supports Forest
Stewardship Council certification for wood and wood
products. The organization also promotes and manages
protected areas for the tree kangaroo.

HOW CAN WE HELP

• TAKE ACTION
• Join WWF to make change . Speak up for species

and places through WWF’s Action center

• ADOPT AN ANIMAL
• Make a symbolic animal adoption to help save

dome of the world’s most endangered animals
from extinction and support WWF’s conservation
efforts.

SPEECH

Good morning teacher and my friend . Today , I have speech that
about the endangered animal --- TREE KANGAROO

I think many people are not familiar with this animal , so that ,I will
introduce you to this animal first. A new species of tree kangaroo, the
golden-mantled tree kangaroo, was discovered in the Torricelli
Mountains of Papua New Guinea in 1990. It had a chestnut-brown
coat, pale belly and a double stripe of gold down its back . Tree
kangaroo is smaller than ordinal kangaroo. The different between them
is tree kangaroo live on the tree but ordinal kangaroo live on the
ground.

Female tree kangaroos give birth to one offspring after a gestation
period of approximately 44 days. After birth, the fetus-like young,
called a joey. The joey remains in the pouch for about ten months .
They stay with their mothers until they are about 18 months old, when
they disperse and establish a home range . They can live 15-20years.

Tree kangaroo is one of endangered animal . They will become
endangered animal is caused by human behavior . Indigenous peoples
throughout the tree kangaroo’s range hunt the animals for food , hunting
alone has driven these marsupials close to extinction.

WWF ,World Wide Fund for Nature . Their ultimate goal is to stop and
ultimately reverse the accelerated deterioration of the earth’s natural
environment . To prevent tree kangaroo extinct they combating illegal
hunting to reduce illegal hunting and works to raise awareness about the
effects of hunting tree kangaroos and other species .To reduce habitat lost
through deforestation, WWF also works to decrease illegal logging and
supports Forest Stewardship Council certification for wood and wood
products.

Actually , not just them can help the endangered animal , we can also
do something to help them . For example we can Join WWF to speak up for
species and places through WWF’s Action center . Then , we can also Make
a symbolic animal adoption to help save dome of the world’s most
endangered animals from extinction .

Let we save the endangered animal together . That’s all for my speech,
thank you.

Thank you
for

watching