Bear tree kangaroo
| Bear tree kangaroo | ||||||||||||
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Groomed bear tree kangaroo in the Museo di storia naturale in Genoa. |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Dendrolagus ursinus | ||||||||||||
| ( Temminck , 1836) |
The bear tree kangaroo ( Dendrolagus ursinus ) occurs in western New Guinea on the Vogelkop and Bomberai peninsulas . Little research has been done to date.
features
The bear tree kangaroo is a medium-sized, stocky, dark-colored tree kangaroo. It reaches a head body length of 53 to 73 cm and has a 59 to 72 cm long tail. Information on the weight of the animals is not available. Bear tree kangaroos are blackish on the back, and limbs and toes are black too. The belly is brownish-white. The face is light brown, the cheeks are reddish or whitish. The ears are long and black and bushy at the tips. The tail is black, densely hairy, and in most cases has a white tip.
Habitat and way of life
The bear tree kangaroo lives in tropical mountain rainforests at altitudes of 1000 to 2500 meters above sea level. A long history of a sighting in the lowland rainforest could not be verified. The bear tree kangaroo feeds mainly on the leaves and fruits of the trees. Captive specimens also ate bark, flowers, rice, bread, vegetables, and meat. Little is known about reproduction. Females have a single young each year and are not dependent on the seasons for reproduction.
The IUCN classifies the bear tree kangaroo as “Vulnerable”. The main reasons are the increasing hunting pressure from humans and the loss of habitat due to conversion into agricultural land.
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c Mark Eldridge & Graeme Coulson: Family Macropodidae (Kangaroos and Wallabies). Page 704 in Don E. Wilson , Russell A. Mittermeier : Handbook of the Mammals of the World - Volume 5. Monotremes and Marsupials. Lynx Editions, 2015, ISBN 978-84-96553-99-6
- ↑ Dendrolagus ursinus in the Red List of Threatened Species of the IUCN 2016. Posted by: Leary, T., Seri, L., Wright, D., Hamilton, S., Helgen, K., Singadan, R., Menzies, J. , Allison, A., James, R., Dickman, C., Aplin, K., Salas, L., Flannery, T. & Bonaccorso, F., 2015. Retrieved March 20, 2018.