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My two favourite
animals are red kangaroo and penguins.
The red kangaroo is the giant of the Australian kangaroo. It is
widespread over the mainland. It lives on grasses, and of ten lives
in quite big mobs. It can leap up to five metres long in a jump and
Penguins are birds that cannot fly, but they swim very well and
spend most of their lives in the sea. There are 17 species of
penguin.
Feathers: Penguins have shiny, waterproof feathers that help keep
their skin dry. They have more feathers than most other birds -
about 70 feathers per square inch. Each year, penguins molt, losing
their old feathers and growing new ones. Some penguins have a
feathery crest (like the Macaroni penguin and the Rockhopper
penguin).
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Anatomy: The Emperor Penguin is the
largest penguin. It is up to 3.7 feet (1.1 m) tall and weighs up to
65 pounds (30 kg); this is bit less than half the size of an adult
person. Males and females look very similar. All penguins have a big
head, a short, thick neck, a streamlined shape, a short,
wedge-shaped tail, and tiny, flipper-like wings. They have webbed
feet which they use for swimming. Penguins are counters haded; they
have a lighter color on the belly and a darker color on their back;
this coloration helps camouflage them when they are in the water,
hiding them from predators.
Habitat: All penguins live in the Southern Hemisphere (south of the
equator). They live in climates ranging from the warm tropics to the
frigid Antarctic. These defenseless birds usually live on
predator-free islands or on remote parts of a continent. Some
penguins, like the Emperor Penguin, live on pack ice in Antarctica.
The Kangaroo is a common marsupial from the islands of Australia and
New Guinea. There are 47 species of "roo." Kangaroos can hop up to
40 miles per hour (74 kph) and go over 30 feet (9 m) in one hop.
These shy animals live about 6 years in the wild and up to 20 in
captivity. Most roos are nocturnal (active at night). Many roo are
in danger of extinction, but they are also considered pests due to
the way they damage crops. An adult male is called a buck, boomer or
jack; an adult female is called a doe, flyer, roos, or Jill. A baby
is called a Joey. A group of roo is called a mob.
Anatomy: Roos and wallabies range in size from 2 pounds (the Rock
Wallaby) up to 6 ft and 300 pounds (the Red Kangaroo). The soft,
woolly fur can be blue, grey, red, black, yellow or brown, depending
on the species. Females have a pouch in which the young live and
drink milk.
Diet: These herbivores (plant-eaters) eat grass, leaves, and roots.
They swallow their food without chewing it and later regurgitate a
cud and chew it. Roos need little water; they can go for months
without drinking, and they dig their own water wells.
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