Joeys are the size of a jellybean when they are born.
They are pink, blind and hairless.
They live in their mother's pouch drinking her milk.
When they're about a year old they don't need mum's milk any more – but they stay close to her as they still have a lot to learn. Kangaroos are herbivores. They eat only grasses, leaves and the shoots of small trees. As they do most of their feeding in the evening or at night they are nocturnal animals.
How do kangaroos keep cool?
They rest in the heat of the day.
They pant like a dog.
They dig shallow holes under trees and lie in the cool sand.
They have a spit bath by licking their arms.
Kangaroos are very good swimmers but they will only take to water when chased or if they have no other choice.They have very good hearing, eyesight and sense of smell. Why don't joeys fly out of mum's pouch when she's hopping? The female kangaroo can control the muscles that control the size of her pouch and the size of the opening. She can contract the muscles, pulling the pouch tight against the body. If she wants to clean her pouch and wants the joey out, she can also relax the opening allowing the joey to fall out. The milk joeys drink is very different from the milk we drink, so if you ever find a sick joey, never feed it cow's milk.
KOALAS
The Australian Koala Foundation reports the koala population in the wild has dropped
from 100,000 to fewer than 43,000 during the past six years.
The cuddly animals face many serious threats to the species,
with calls for his killer to be brought to justice.
SURGERY yesterday was unable to save Doug the koala.
The young koala was found with slug gun shots to his ribs and abdomen at the base
of a tree at a Morayfield property on Tuesday morning.
We the undersigned, care about Koalas in Australia which are officially in danger of extinction
due to drought,global warming and deforestation. There is also a disease - chlamidia -
which is spreading rapidly and hinders reproduction
ELEPHANT
Room to move
There are lots of ways to view elephants these days. You can travel to Africa, of course,
but the easiest way to observe these mighty creatures is to come to the Wild Animal Park!
We have a large exhibit area for our African elephant herd.
An elevated walking path called the Elephant Overlook takes you out alongside the exhibit area to see what our pachyderms are up to.
You can also view elephants next to Tembo Stadium.
Most elephants enjoy a dip in a pool of water,
or at least like to get their feet wet.
The elephant exhibit offers a large pond, shaded with trees, for the elephants to do just that.
There are also shade structures made of simulated rock and plenty of room to roam.
From the elephant overlook you can even view the exhibit's elephant barn and holding yard,
where the elephants go in the mornings when the keepers are cleaning
the spacious main yard and hiding treats for the elephants to discover.
Fun facts
Our Asian elephant herd of four moved to the San Diego Zoo's Elephant Oydssey exhibit May 2009.
We hope to expand our existing African elephant exhibit into the area where the Asian elephants lived.
A herd of seven African elephants, scheduled to be culled in Swaziland due to overpopulation,
safely arrived in San Diego on a truly "jumbo" plane in August 2003.
They are one of the most genetically valuable African elephant herds in North America.
An African elephant named Hatari starred in a 1962 motion picture of the same name
with John Wayne before arriving at the Wild Animal Park.
In 1989, the Wild Animal Park began a "protected contact" system for handling elephants.
In this system, keepers work with elephants from a shielded position,
usually behind a barrier with openings that allows access to the elephant.
We now work with other animal species in the same way.
It's not a UFO! The round, yellow object in the background of our
Project Elephant Footprint is a unique opportunity to step up and involve yourself
in our African elephant conservation efforts! We are protecting and studying Africa's largest remaining elephant population
—more than 220,000 animals strong—in Botswana and neighboring countries.
This is nearly half of the elephants left in all of Africa!
Three radio-collared elephants are peddling their footprints to raise money
for this crucial conservation project.
ZIBRA
Animal has a more distinctive coat than the zebra.
Each animal's stripes are as unique as fingerprints
no two are exactly alike—although each of the three species has its own general pattern.
Why do zebras have stripes at all? Scientists aren't sure,
but many theories center on their utility as some form of camouflage.
The patterns may make it difficult for predators to identify a single animal from a running herd and
distort distance at dawn and dusk.
Or they may dissuade insects that recognize only large areas of single-colored fur
or act as a kind of natural sunscreen. Because of their uniqueness,
stripes may also help zebras recognize one another.
Zebras are social animals that spend time in herds.
They graze together, primarily on grass, and even groom one another.
Plains (Burchell's) zebras are the most common species.
They live in small family groups consisting of a male (stallion), several females, and their young.
These units may combine with others to form awe-inspiring herds thousands of head strong,
but family members will remain close within the herd.
Zebras must be constantly wary of lions and hyenas.
A herd has many eyes alert to danger. If an animal is attacked, its family will come to its defense,
circling the wounded zebra and attempting to drive off predators.
KANGAROOS
Joeys are the size of a jellybean when they are born.
THE death of baby koala Doug has sparked anger among animal lovers, 
