MYKOLAIV, AUGUST, 17th, 2009, CONTEXT-PRICHERNOMORIE – Two red hill kangaroos arrived in Mykolaiv Zoo from Poland, Context-Prichernomorie correspondent reports.

Director of the Zoo Vladimir Topchiy informed the agency about it today, 17 August.

Two one year old female kangaroos arrived in Mykolaiv from Warsaw, and a four year old male – from Lodz.

Now the animals have been placed in a separate cage for quarantine. They were not given names in Poland, so this will be done in Mykolaiv zoo.

This species is also called the red kangaroo, and there have never been such ones in Mykolaiv. There are red kangaroos in Ukraine – in Rovno, just males, also brought from Poland.

INFORMATION: The Red Kangaroo (Macropus rufus) is the largest of all kangaroos, the largest mammal native to Australia, and the largest surviving marsupial. It is found across mainland Australia, avoiding only the more fertile areas in the south, the east coast, and the northern rainforests. This species is a very large kangaroo with short, red-brown fur, fading to pale buff below and on the limbs. It has long, pointed earlobes and a squared-off muzzle. Females are smaller than males and are blue-grey with a brown tinge, pale grey below, although arid zone females are coloured more like males. It has two forelimbs with small claws, two muscular hindlimbs, which are used for jumping, and a strong tail which is often used to create a tripod when standing upright.