Huon Tree Kangaroo

With a body and head length of 20 to 32 inches (51–81 cm), Matschie's tree-kangaroos are much smaller than Australia's well-known red kangaroo. An adult male weighs between 20 and 25 lb (9–11 kg). An adult female weighs between 15 and 20 lb (7–9 kg). There is no particular season in which they breed. Gestation lasts 44 days and joeys of captive bred individuals leave the pouch after 11 months. The average life span of the Matschie's tree-kangaroo in the wild is unknown, but is at least 14 years. The life span of the kangaroo in a zoo is about 20 years. A distinctive trait of all tree-kangaroos is the dorsal hair whorl they possess. The whorl is a region of hair that radiates outward in many directions and its location ranges from up near the shoulders and down to the tail. The Matschie's tree-kangaroo is golden ventrally, and on the lower parts of its limbs, its ear edges, belly, and tail. The rest of its body is a chestnut brown colour, with a darker stripe down its back. Their faces show a variable array of yellow and white hairs. The Matschie’s is similar in colour and size to Dendrolagus dorianus, the Doria's tree-kangaroo. It is also very closely related to Dendrolagus goodfellowi, the Goodfellow's tree-kangaroo, which was once considered a subspecies of the Matschie's. The Matschie's tree-kangaroo has limited hearing because of their small and bear-like ears. …

Matschie's tree-kangaroos are restricted to the Huon peninsula of Papua New Guinea, a subdivision of Tumbanan faunal province, and are the only tree-kangaroos found there. They are also residents on the island of Umboi, which is just off the coast of Papua New Guinea. However, most scientists believe the tree-kangaroos were introduced onto this island and were not originally found there. The Matschie’s tree-kangaroo prefer to live in deciduous forests and tropical rainforests due to their largely arboreal nature. Their home range consists of about 25 hectares of the area.

Matschie's tree-kangaroo lives in the mountainous rainforests at elevations of between 1,000 and 3,000 metres (3,300 and 9,800 ft). As arboreal animals, they spend most of their time in the trees and come down occasionally to feed. They are very adept at hopping and can leap up to 30 feet (9 m). In the wild, researchers have found most Matschie’s live alone or in small assemblies, containing maybe a mother and her offspring and one male. Most of the time, the groups have a sex ratio of 1:1. Matschie’s tree-kangaroos appear to be scared of humans as they appear agitated in the presence of people and are very difficult to find in the field. They spend about 14 to 15 hours of their days sleeping and resting. The Matschie's tree-kangaroos are known for defending their home territory and marking their boundaries. Instead of sweating, Matschie's tree-kangaroo licks its forearms and allows the evaporation to help cool its body. When the temperature of the environment drastically changes at different times of the year, they are able to maintain a moderate body temperature because of their metabolic rate. Matschies' have been found to be very susceptible to mycobacterial infections; however, the infections do not seem to be contagious because some individuals that are around infected kangaroos do not appear to get the infection. …