Macropods
What is a macropod?
Kangaroo and their kin have powerful hindlimbs and long hindfeet. The following chapters cover macropod housing, capture and feeding. |
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| Common wallaroo |
Capture
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Adult or large juvenile wallabies and kangaroos can be restrained by grasping them at the base of the tail and transported in a large sack with an open weave (e.g. a clean hessian bag), an enclosed carry box or a wooden crate. If you have a number of people, hold up large cloth sheets to block its view and corner the animal. Smaller animals can be caught in a large hoop net. Do not approach an animal from behind, because it will use its legs to defend itself. Do not run the animal around for too long. If you cannot catch it within 10 minutes, leave it alone and ring your local wildlife care organisation for advice. |
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| Bagging a wallaby | Tailing a wallaby | |
To restrain an animal for an examination, lay it on its side, kneel from the back of the animal (so its legs are away from you) and hold the animal at the upper shoulder or neck region and the lower back (for large animals you may need two people).
Young kangaroos and wallabies can be gently picked up by the tail and back and transferred to an artificial pouch for security. If you are moving a sub-adult or an adult over a long distance, it is usually a good idea to sedate the animal.
Housing
Housing for injured or sick adult or young macropods should be at least 3m x 1.5m x 2m. The walls should be solid or covered with hessian or shade cloth. Concrete floors are the easiest to clean and fresh straw works as bedding. Feed should be placed in feed trough and any spilt feed, faeces and urine should be cleaned up daily. Nervous animals can be provided with extra cover, such as a large box or upside down gum branches in a corner. Put a heat pad in with the debilitated animal, although make sure it can move away from the heat if it is too hot.
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In the final rehabilitation stage, animals should be kept in as large an enclosure as possible. Contact your local wildlife care group for advice. The enclosure should have fences at least 2 metres high and be dog, cat and people-proof. Fences should be easy for the animals to see and guide posts or corner posts should be on the outside and there should be no sharp objects or wire ends on the inside of the fence. It is a good idea to have bushy plants around the edge of the fence. This not only provides a hiding area, it reduces the chance of them hitting the fence if they are frightened. The main feeding area should be concreted and food should be put in an elevated food trough. |
Macropod habitat |
A small covered area can be set up. Smaller enclosures should be raked regularly and any faeces removed to reduce the risk of disease.
Feeding
| Clean fresh water should be provided daily. Macropods need pasture or an area of open grass on which to learn how to graze. Whole carrots, corn on the cob or whole sweet potato can be dropped around the grassy area to encourage browsing. Branches from eucalyptus and wattles should be provided weekly. Many macropods chew bark and leaves to maintain healthy gums and teeth. Macropods can also be fed lucerne pellets or horse cubes. If there is not much pasture available, greens and vegetables such as lettuce, silverbeet, apple, carrot, corn and sweet potato are suitable substitutes. These items should be fed in troughs, which are cleaned every day. They should also have access to lucerne hay, hung in a heavy string bags or on a rack. |
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Feeding hopper |
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| Macropod vegetables | Macropod pellets |
Last updated: 23 December 2004