Mittwoch, 21. August 2013

Food



Quokka kangaroos, like all herbivoresand feed on grasses, herbs and leaves. In search of food, they climb up to 1.5 meters high. A multi-chamber stomach and special bacteria help them in the recycling of indigestible food.


Quokka with a baby

aaaaawwwh, so damn cute

Ecology

In the wild, its roaming is restricted to a very small range in the South-West of Western Australia, with a number of small scattered populations on the mainland, one large population on Rottnest Island and a smaller population on Bald Island near Albany. The islands are free of foxes and cats. On Rottnest, quokkas are common and occupy a variety of habitats ranging from semi-arid scrub to cultivated gardens.


 

What it looks like:


The quokka weighs 2.5 to 5 kilograms and is 40 to 90 centimetres long with a 25 to 30 centimetres -long tail, which is fairly short for bigfooted animals. It has a stocky build, rounded ears, and a short, broad head. Although looking rather like a very small, dumpy kangaroo, it can climb small trees and shrubs. Its coarse fur is a grizzled brown colour, fading to buff underneath.

video

a Quokka is also sweet, even though it is aggressive

The Quokka

The Quokka the only member of the genus setonix, is a small macropod about the size of a domestic cat.. Like other marsupials in the macropod family (such as the kangaroos and wallabies), the quokka is herbivorous and mainly nocturnal. It can be found on some smaller islands off the coast of Western Australia, in particular on Rottnest Island just off Perth and Bald Island near Albany. A small mainland colony exists in the protected area of two peoples bay nature reserve, where they co-exist with gilbert's potoroo.