Tree Kangaroos

 Tree Kangaroos By Margo Illustrations by Margo Table of contents What is a tree Kangaroo?­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Page 2 Their Habitat ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Page 3 What do they eat?­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Page 4 Why are they endangered­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Page 5 Population­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Page 6 What other people do to help­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Page 7 Lisa Dabek­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Page 8 Conclusion­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Page 9 Glossary­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Page 10 Ages 7+ 1 1.What is a Tree Kangaroo? A tree kangaroo is basically a small kangaroo that lives in the trees. They are very interesting animals and they have many great things to share about them. But this, is only the first chapter, so I will get to that later. But by the end of this book, I think that I will have you convinced that the tree kangaroo is a fantastic animal. Also, a tree kangaroo has many features that share with a regular kangaroo. Like for example, the tree kangaroo and the kangaroo both have strong tails. The tree kangaroos use it for balance around the thin branches and the kangaroo uses it for battles. Or, they both have pouches to hold their young. 2 The tree kangaroos body looks like the kangaroo’s, and the color too, which are brown and orange, but the tree kangaroo sometimes has a brown body and orange arms. Also, tree kangaroos are endangered because of the native people, but we will get to that later. And it is very important because if we do not do anything tree kangaroos, will go extinct , and we will never see them again. 2.Their habitat The tree kangaroo lives in many places. One of those places is Papua, New Guinea. In that area, they live in the rainforest. And the rainforests that they live in are not disturbed. The leaves in the trees and other plants supply the tree kangaroos diet . They live up high in the trees and they have impressive jumping and climbing skills. 3 Even though there 14 different kinds of tree kangaroo species , they do not all live in all one place. Some, like I said, live in the forest. but some others live in the mountains. If you did not know, there are trees in the mountains, so the tree kangaroos live there. Just because there are mountains, that does not mean that they have no food on them. They would probably have little patches of grass and trees with food too. 3.What do they eat? Tree kangaroos are herbivores. That means, they only eat plants, not meat . So, they eat plants and flowers. But if you are talking details, they eat leaves, dry grass, shoots, ferns,and moss. But that is only the plants. There are also other things that the tree kangaroos eat. Like flowers. They eat flowers. Another thing is, they eat fruits like, basic fruits. Apples, bananas, oranges,pears, things like that. 4 There is enough food for them, but the reason they are being endangered is, well, I can’t tell you that until a later chapter. But back to food. They get their water from a normal place. Like, a nearby stream or a river. By they have to be careful when they are getting water because they they are more vulnerable to their predators. No, they are not being endangered because of they do not have enough food. And I won’t tell you why they are endangered. Yet. But there is really plenty of food for them. Even if there wasn’t, I am sure that they would adapt to another type of food. 4. Why are they endangered? Sadly, the tree kangaroos are endangered because, people hunt them for food. Or, to be more specific , the native people that live there hunt them for food. As I said before, The tree kangaroos live in rainforests that are not disturbed, well, the ones that live in the rainforest do, but they are disturbed, by the hunters. 5 Another problem is, their home is being cut down because people want their land for farmland or other land. So, since people cut down their home, they are forced to live on the ground. Which there, they will be vulnerable to predators, and since they do not know anything about humans, and they are forced to live on ground since people cut down their home some tree kangaroos are being run over by cars. The good news is, people are helping by doing many great things. And there are many different ways that people help. It is very useful because with the people that help care about what will happen to the tree kangaroos . But I can only tell you more in another chapter. 5.Population Now, this is an important chapter. The population is important because if the population goes down a lot, then the tree kangaroos are really in trouble. I can’t tell you the population but I do know some of the other species population. Like for example, the Wondiwoi tree kangaroo has less than 50 left in the wild. however, the Huon tree kangaroo have less than 2,500 left in the wild. Some other species although, are not endangered at all. But look at the ones we do have, the Huon tree kangaroo has less than 2,500 left in the wild. Which is not good, but compared to the Wondiwoi tree kangaroo that has only less than 50, the Huon tree kangaroo is better. 6 The reason I said that I can not tell you the population is this, people can get the population, but for most people, it is very, very, hard. It is hard because yes, we can just add up all the different populations, but that is the part that is hard because then we would have to add up the different species populations, and that would take a very long time. 6.What other people do to help Now, there is a lot to say in this chapter. Where do I start? I know how about what people do. That is even a lot to say. Well, for starters, some people put up no­hunting signs. That’s useful. But one of my ideas is, since people cut down their home, we could maybe bandage the trees up and then the tree kangaroos can live happily there. And I hope that is what other people can do someday. But now, let’s get back to what people do. Lots of people help conserve them. Like, in a conservation center. Some of them have been in an area where they can not get out and others just an open reserve. But I think it would be a better idea if there was a place where they can still get the space they need, but they can’t get out because in a open reserve, they can get out and there they will be hunted. 7 But here is the fun part. Here is what you can do! You could go on a website that is about tree kangaroos, and email the person who owns the website about your ideas! 7.Lisa Dabek First things first, who is Lisa Dabek? She works for the Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program. That is a company that supports the tree kangaroos. She is in charge of the company. They also have a website and the website encourages you to donate to the tree kangaroos. But let’s stick with Lisa Dabek. She studied them in captivity and now she is helping conserve them. Well, let’s start over. She joined the Tree kangaroo conservation center, became the leader of that, and them she studied them in captivity. Next, she build a conservation center, and in order to do that, they had to make a deal with the people who owns the land. They said that they would give up part of their land for a no­hunting zone. The problem with that is, the conservation is outside. And I think it would be better inside because then, the tree kangaroos can not get out. But with the outdoor one, they can get out and then there they can get hunted. But, the only way to stop that from happening is, they can build an indoor one like I said, or they could build a fence around the trees that is the border for the conservation area. But then they could just climb over it. So really, I think we should build in indoor one, which is one of my ideas. We could raise money and build it. 8 I think Lisa Dabek is a great woman, and that she and the corporation she she is running, is a great way to help the tree kangaroos. They also have a website. Click here to see it. or, you could go to…. http://www.zoo.org/page.aspx?pid=1269 Have fun! 8.Conclusion Here is the conclusion. There is lots of things that I have talked about. But before that, I think that it is important to save the tree kangaroos, to save all of the endangered animals, before they go extinct. Now, let’s get into what I talked about. I first talked about what is a tree kangaroo. Many of the basic things about a tree kangaroo. Then, we moved on to habitat and diet. They were useful too. But then, we moved on to why they are endangered. That, changed it up a little. then, population and what you can do to help, gave you a chance to think about what you can do. There many things that are decreasing. Like, the population on Pandas, they are endangered, and the Black Rhino, they are also endangered.But of course, the tree kangaroo. I hope that someday, all three of those animals, will be out of extinction, forever. 9.Glossary ● Convinced: Something or someone that got you to do something. Example: Amy convinced her friend to join the soccer team. ● Endangered: When a species has only a little of that kind of animal left. Example: The black Rhino has only 4,000 left in the wild. 9 ● Extinct: When a species of something has none of that kind of animal left. Example: The dinosaurs went extinct. ● Diet: It is what someone or something eats. Example: Tree kangaroos eat plants, flowers, and fruits. ● Impressive: When something is, surprising, and it is usually what someone does, so it means that they are good at it. Example: Jamie is good at soccer. ● Species: Any kind of animal, or, one animal that has different kinds of that type of animal. Example, the tree kangaroos has 14 different species. ● Vulnerable: When something is easier to catch for some reason. Example: The sloth was more vulnerable on the ground because that is where some of his predators is. ● Predators: An animal that eats another animal. Example: Cheetahs are predators because they eat antelope. ● Adapt: When an animal or plant has to live in certain conditions. Example: The plants in the Mangrove swamp has to adapt to live in salty water. ● Specific: To be more detailed. Example: Katy told Laura to be more specific when she was telling her story at the lunch table. ● Population: How many of something are left. Example: The population for the pandas is low. 10