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September 1, 2022 4 mins

Baby kangaroos live in their mother's pouch for months after birth, and return sometimes even after they're mobile. Learn why, plus what it's like in there, in this episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://animals.howstuffworks.com/mammals/kangaroo-pouch.htm

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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio,
Hey brain Stuff Lauren Vogubam Here from a Possums to
Koala's two bandicoots. Pouches are the bailiwick of marsupial child rearing,
and perhaps the most famous of pouched mama's though, is
the kangaroo. Kangaroos are native to Australia and New Guinea.

(00:22):
The kangaroo is so archetypally Australian that it graces the
country's coat of arms. A female kangaroo sports a big
pocket on her belly called a marsupium that's essential to
the nursing, protection and ferrying around her baby, called a joey.
Only female kangaroos have pouches. They do of the child rearing.

(00:43):
Kangaroos live in large groups called mobs, and the males
contribute by acting as bodyguards. Joey's live at least partially
in their mother's pouch for about eight months until the
joey is fast enough to keep up with the mob
When it runs. Kangaroos can run in leaping bounds upwards
of forty miles an hour that's sixty kilometers per hour
in short bursts Kangaroo pouches function exclusively as baby containers.

(01:09):
They're very warm inside about a hundred and five degrees
fahrenheit that's around forty celsius, and they contain four nipples.
The mother can use muscles to open or close it
like a draw string pouch, and the pouch is stretchy.
It can make space for two joeys of different ages
at the same time. A kangaroo can give birth to
up to four joeys per year. For the article this

(01:29):
episode is based on, has to Work, spoke with Katrina macaulay,
assistant curator in the Columbus zoon Aquariums Australia and the
Islands regions. She explained, normally, a kangaroo's pouch is dry,
lightly furred and has a dry, flaky, rusty brown colored
substance that is a naturally occurring antifungal in antibacterial substance.

(01:51):
The pouch is also essential for joey gest station. After birth.
The mother kangaroo gives birth vaginally to an unbelievably small
and underdevelop baby after just dating only about thirty three days.
The baby is pink, entirely hairless, and only about the
size of the nail on your pinky finger. It crawls
up its mother's stomach and into her pouch, where it

(02:12):
will remain for between four and a half and five months.
Mcaulay said when Joey's are first born, they attached to
one of the teats and fused to it until they're
more developed. Kangaroo females produce different milk compositions as their
Joey's age of plus, the females can produce two different
compositions of milk based on the ages of her young.

(02:34):
She explained that a female kangaroo can balance Joey's of
different ages this way, taking care of one that's out
of the pouch and mobile on its own but still
getting nutrients from her milk, and one that's still in
the pouch full time. A female kangaroo's body is in
tune with the supply and demand of food for Joey's.
Even if she only mates once a year and fertilizes

(02:57):
up to four eggs in one go, her body will
hold to those embryos until conditions are good. During times
of drought or low food supply, the dormant embryos can
bide their time when conditions improve. Her body will let
one implant, but can hold on to the rest until
the first joey is mobile. The kangaroo babies do everything

(03:17):
in the pouch, including use the bathroom, so it takes
a bit of housekeeping to keep it fresh and clean.
Mcaulay said, Oh, when a kangaroo is preparing to give birth,
we see an increase in females tending to their pouch.
We also see an increase in cleaning once a joey
is developed enough to come out of the pouch. In general,
we see them clean it when they are standing by

(03:38):
sticking their snout into the pouch. Today's episode is based
on the article What's it Like Inside of Kangar's Pouch
on house to forks dot com, written by Justlyn Shields.
Brainstuff is production of I Heart Radio in partnership with
house to forks dot com and is produced by Tyler Clang.
Four more podcasts from my Heart Radio. Visit the I

(03:58):
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your favorite shows. H

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