The eastern grey kangaroo (2).

Received: 2^nd September 2012 Distance: 16.463 km (10,230 miles) Travel time: 8 days.

Thank you, Emily from Australia!

I’ve met the eastern grey kangaroo more than a month ago, not in reality but on the Australian card that I received. Now I continue the story with the behaviour of this animal.

Eastern grey kangaroos are gregarious and form open-membership groups. The groups are made up of 2-3 females and their offspring with the same number of males of which one is dominant. They exist in a dominance hierarchy and the dominant individuals gain access to better sources of food and areas of shade. However, kangaroos are not territorial and usually fight only when females are in estrous.

Eastern grey kangaroos adjust their behaviour in relation to the risk of predation with reproductive females, individuals on the periphery of the group and individuals in groups far from cover being the most vigilant. Vigilance in individual kangaroos does not seem to significantly decrease when the size of the group increases.

However there is a tendency for the proportion of individuals on the periphery of the group to decline as group size increases. The open membership of the group allows more kangaroos to join and thus provide more buffers against predators.

Source Wikipedia.