Babies in Pouches
A newborn kangaroo is smaller than a grown-up person’s thumb. A newborn koala is even smaller. A newborn opossum is smaller yet – no bigger than a bee.
How do such tiny creatures stay safe? After they are born, they spend months in a pouch on the mother’s body. They don’t even peek out. They just drink milk and grow.
Then, for a while, they spend part of the day outside the pouch. But they jump back in again when something scares them.
Even after they leave the pouch, the babies stay close to the mother. An opossum rides on its mother’s back when she looks for food. A koala baby rides piggyback as its mother moves through the treetops eating eucalyptus leaves.
A kangaroo baby is called a joey. It outgrows its pouch at about 8 months old. Then it hops along beside its mother.
All these young are tiny and weak at first, but they grow into big, strong animals. A full-grown opossum is about as big as a cat. A full-grown koala is a bit larger. An adult kangaroo is nearly as tall as an adult person.
Picture Credit : Google