Fun Facts about Kangaroos

October 24 is World Kangaroo Day. It's a special day to tell people to protect these amazing Australian animals—kangaroos. They need our help to live safely.

Kangaroos are the world's largest marsupial animals with a pouch for their babies.

There are some fun facts about them. Kangaroos can't hop backward. They can only move forwards because of their large tails and hind legs. That's why they are on Australia's national emblem. They stand for making progress. A baby kangaroo is called a joey. It's as small as a jelly bean when born, and then lives in its mum's pouch for 6 to 8 months.

Kangaroos can jump far—sometimes 8 metres in one hop. They can also swim. They use their tails to swim away when meeting predators. There are more than 60 different kinds of kangaroos in the world. Some are big, like the red kangaroos—they can grow to 2 metres tall. Some are small, like the tiny musky rat-kangaroos.

Kangaroos have lived in Australia for 16 million years. We must protect them so they can keep hopping for years to come.