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National Kangaroo Awareness Day

Animal · October 24

Kangaroos up close: how these Australian marsupials hop, raise joeys in pouches, and live in groups called mobs, plus kind ways to learn more.

National Kangaroo Awareness Day falls on Sunday, October 24, 2027. That is 362 days away.

Kangaroos are marsupials from Australia, and they move in a way no other large animal quite matches. They hop on two powerful back legs, using a long, muscular tail for balance. At slow speeds the tail even works like a fifth leg, propping the animal up while it shuffles forward to graze.

A kangaroo mother carries her young in a pouch on her belly. The baby, called a joey, is born tiny and undeveloped, then crawls into the pouch and keeps growing there for months. Older joeys poke their heads out to nibble grass, then climb back in when something startles them, which is about as close as nature gets to a hood you can live in.

Most kangaroos are grazers that eat grasses and other plants. They often live in groups called mobs, and they tend to be most active in the cooler parts of the day, resting in shade when it is hot. There are several kinds, from the large red kangaroo of dry inland country to the grey kangaroos of forests and grasslands.

Awareness here mostly means curiosity. People read about kangaroos, watch nature films, or visit a zoo or wildlife park that keeps them and talk with the keepers. It is a chance to learn about the animal as it really is, not just as a cartoon with boxing gloves.

Kangaroos cannot easily walk backward, a quirk of those long feet and that heavy tail.

Ways to celebrate

• Watch a nature documentary about kangaroos and their joeys.
• Visit an accredited zoo or wildlife park and ask keepers about their kangaroos.
• Read a library book about Australian marsupials with a child.
• Look up the differences between red and grey kangaroos.
• Draw or photograph a kangaroo and share what you learned about it.

Dates

All national days on October 24

Also on October 24

• National Bologna Day
• National Jamaican Jerk Day
• National Mother-in-Law Day

Categories: Animal days