How are you all coping with this hot summer? As a measure to help Red Kangaroo I'm in charge of cope with the heat, I've been watering their exercise area, running the air conditioner in their sleeping quarters, and allowing them to move freely between indoors and outdoors. However, each animal has its own way of coping with the heat.

Changing clothes for the season

When cleaning the kangaroo enclosure, you often see clumps of fur lying around. This is due to a process called "molting," where Red Kangaroo shed their fur in summer and winter. Some of the fur falls out naturally, while other parts fall out when they scratch themselves.


Grooming

Summer appearance	Winter appearance

The photos show the same individual in summer and winter. If you look closely, you'll see that in summer the fur is short and reddish-brown, while in winter the fur is long and gray. Doesn't the winter version look fluffy because of its long fur? Since the timing and speed of molting vary from individual to individual, if you observe carefully you may find individuals with both summer and winter coats mixed together.

Heat of vaporization

On hot days, you can often see Red Kangaroo with their arms and legs soaked.


Wet forelimbs
Red Kangaroo do not have well-developed sweat glands and cannot sweat like humans. Instead, they moisten their body surface by licking their forelimbs and hindlimbs, which have large blood vessels running through them. This is the same as human sweating, and it lowers their body temperature by utilizing a phenomenon called "evaporative cooling," where water absorbs heat from the surroundings as it evaporates.

In fact, there are large blood vessels running through the arms of humans as well. On hot days, why not try wetting your arms with water, just like kangaroos do?

Although various measures are being taken to cope with the heat, it may be difficult to observe them as they rarely come out of the shade during the day. The hot days will continue, but let's get through this hot summer together with the kangaroos.


Red Kangaroo with wet forelimbs
[Tama Zoo]

◎Related articles
・ Mud – A heat countermeasure for African Bush Elephant "Tomu" (September 1, 2023)
・ Golden Takin heat countermeasures (September 8, 2023)

(August 9, 2024)