Goodfellow tree kangaroo
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Goodfellow tree kangaroo ( Dendrolagus goodfellowi ) |
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| Thomas , 1908 |
The Goodfellow tree kangaroo ( Dendrolagus goodfellowi ) is a species from the kangaroo family . It is named after the British naturalist Walter Goodfellow (1866–1953).
description
The Goodfellow tree kangaroo has a slim build and is between 55 and 75 centimeters tall and 6 to 8 kilograms in weight. The tail becomes 65 to 80 centimeters long. The females are smaller and lighter than the males . The short and woolly fur is colored reddish brown to chestnut brown and shows dorsally , in the middle of the back, two light stripes that extend from the neck to the base of the tail . The top of the tail is brownish in color and sometimes shows a slight yellowish ring. The ventral side, the underside of the tail and parts of the extremities are cream-colored to slightly yellow in color. So that rainwater can drain off well, the vertex of the fur is in the middle of the back. The rear legs of the Goodfellow tree kangaroo are significantly shorter than those of ground-dwelling kangaroos . The arms are much more pronounced. The tail, which is round in cross section, serves as a balancing aid when climbing. Rough soles and strong claws on the toes provide adequate support in the branches of the trees .
Way of life
The Goodfellow tree kangaroo is predominantly nocturnal and is highly adapted to life in the trees. It is a good, albeit slow and deliberate, climber . It only enters the ground to search for food. It moves awkwardly on the floor because of the shorter hind legs. It is incapable of jumping like the ground-dwelling kangaroos. Jumps that cover distances between trees, on the other hand, are not a problem. The Goodfellow tree kangaroo is a loner . The females usually have a much smaller territory than the males.
distribution
The Goodfellow tree kangaroo is found only in New Guinea . There it predominantly inhabits the dense rainforests from the lowlands to altitudes of up to 3,000 meters. It avoids light forests and open spaces.
nutrition
The Goodfellow tree kangaroo goes foraging for food after nightfall. Food is sought both in the branches of the trees and on the ground. It feeds on leaves , grains , fruits , roots and other plant foods. In captivity, it has also been observed ingesting, to a small extent, animal foods such as chicks . It has a specially trained stomach that can break down the highly fibrous food .
Reproduction
The Goodfellow tree kangaroo becomes sexually mature at around two years of age . The mating season is all year round. The females have a pouch that opens upwards. There are four teats inside the bag . After a gestation period of 30 to 40 days, the female gives birth to one or two young animals . The young are two centimeters tall and one to two grams in weight. The birth takes place in a sitting position. The young remain in the pouch for around six months before they look out for the first time. After another two months, they leave the bag for the first time, but keep coming back. At the age of ten to twelve months they are self-employed and leave their mother. Goodfellow tree kangaroos can live up to 14 years.
Subspecies
- Timboyok tree kangaroo ( D. g. Buergersi ) - Synonym: D. g. shawmayeri (Shawmayer's colorful tree kangaroo)
- Goodfellow tree kangaroo ( D. g. Goodfellowi )
The golden-mantled tree kangaroo ( D. pulcherrimus ) used to be considered a subspecies of the Goodfellow tree kangaroo, but is now considered a species in its own right.
Danger
The Goodfellow tree kangaroo is listed on the IUCN Red List as "Endangered". The destruction of its natural habitat and heavy hunting by the indigenous population is causing the populations of this species to continue to shrink. The last retreat points are now only in a few reserves in the highland rainforests.
Keeping in captivity
In addition to the Matschie tree kangaroo , the Goodfellow tree kangaroo is the only tree kangaroo still kept in European and North American zoos. All animals kept there are from the subspecies buergersi . Outside New Guinea, it was first bred at the San Antonio Zoo in 1974. The first European breeding was achieved by Diergaarde Blijdorp in Rotterdam in 1978 , the first German breeding by the Frankfurt Zoo in 1981. Today, the Krefeld Zoo is the most important breeder of the species and at the same time the European conservation breeding program for the species is coordinated there.
In Germany the species is kept in Duisburg, Frankfurt, Krefeld and Rostock. The species will also be kept in Tierpark Berlin in the future.
literature
- David Macdonald (Ed.): The Great Encyclopedia of Mammals. Könemann in the Tandem-Verlags-GmbH, Königswinter 2004, ISBN 3-8331-1006-6 .
- Hans Petzsch : Urania Tierreich, 7 vols., Säugetiere Urania, Stuttgart 1992
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ "Goodfellow" In: Bo Beolens, Michael Grayson, Michael Watkins: The Eponym Dictionary of Mammals. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009; Pp. 158-159; ISBN 978-0-8018-9304-9 .
- ↑ [1] ZTL 10.6.
- ↑ Beautiful living for wild animals . In: Der Tagesspiegel Online . May 29, 2018, ISSN 1865-2263 ( tagesspiegel.de [accessed May 29, 2018]).