Matschie's Tree Kangaroo

scientific name

Dendrolagus matschiei

characteristics

Body Length: 20-30 inches
Tail Length: 17-36 inches
Weight: males 15 lbs.; females to 17 lbs.

adaptations/coloration

Color: Chestnut to red brown with bright red bellies,
ear edges and feet
• Faces are yellow and white • Dark stripe down back
Body: Stocky;shorter wider hind feet than other kangaroos
• Front and hind legs closer to same size than ground kangaroos
Tail: Long narrow -- used for balance
• Does not have prehensile tail
Feet: All four feet have very heavy curved claws to aid climbing
• cushion on like pads on feet covered with roughened to help
with gripping • lack opposable thumb
Fur: Thick fur grows in opposite direction on nap and back to easily
shed water when crouched with head lower than body
Face: Large eyes and small ears

behavior

Diurnal • Solitary, except during breeding • Arboreal marsupial, only member of the kangaroo family that climbs trees • Females keep territories up to 4.5 acres, males up to 11 acres, overlapping several females • Agile climbers (more awkward than other tree roos) • Travel rapidly in trees • Can leap as much as 30 feet down to next tree • Can jump up to 60 feet without injury • Move on ground with a hobbling gait • Eat sporadically throughout the day • Sleep 60% of the day.

reproduction/life span

Lifespan: up to 14 years in captivity
Mating: no defined breeding season, females cycle every 51to 79 days
Gestation: 39 to 46 days, longest of any marsupial
Birth: usually one joey (about 1 inch at birth) • female isolates herself before birth • Birth position - sitting on base of tail with tail between legs • Takes 2 minutes for joey to crawl to the pouch • pouch contains 4 mammae • joey attaches to nipple for 90 to 100 days, at 250 days joey looks out, at 300 leaves pouch for first time, at 350 leaves pouch permanently • long pouch life compared to other kangaroos

diet

Wild: primarily mature leaves, flowers, grass, fruits, nuts, insects, bark, sap, bird eggs & young birds
Zoo: fruit leaves (zoo mix, diet B, Omolene 100, corn, apples, carrots, kale, timothy hay,tea leaves for Tannin (without tea leaves they loose their rich coat color)

habitat/range

Dense tropical rainforest & deciduous forest • mountains of Huon peninsula of New Guinea • sea level to nearly 10,000 feet found nowhere else in New Guinea

status

Endangered • SSP species • 76 in captivity in North America (1996) • ~1,400 in wild • hunted for meat • habitat destruction from logging, mining, oil exploration & agriculture