Kangaroo is a unique herbivorous mammal. These animals live only in Australia, the symbol of which they are. They are also a very important link in the food chain of the Australian flora and fauna, for which they are called "orderlies of the earth."
Kangaroos are the marsupial mammals of Australia. They feed on plants, tubers, seeds and some types of mushrooms.
The concept of "orderlies of the earth" is associated with the biosphere - a kind of shell of our planet, which contains the entire set of living organisms that are in continuous exchange and perform a destructive function. Kangaroos free the surface of the Earth from plants and animal corpses, which, if they do not exist in the nature of consumers, would cover the soil with a multi-meter layer.
In addition, making up the food chain, organisms of one link eat the organisms of the previous one and thus carry out a chain transfer of energy, which is the basis of the cycle of substances in nature.
There are 56 species of kangaroos in total. The smallest of them are kangaroo rats. They live in thickets of grass and feed on seeds, mushrooms and plant tubers. And the largest species is the gigantic kangaroos, which include the gray and red ones. Alfalfa, clover, flowering legumes, porcupine grass serve as food for them, small plants rich in salts are also included in the diet of kangaroos.
Scientists have not figured out why marsupial mammals eat some types of plants and do not touch others.
As an important link in the food chain of the tropical ecosystem of Australia, herbivorous kangaroos themselves serve as food for predators or consumers of the second order: dingo dogs and amethyst pythons; small kangaroos are killed by imported animals such as foxes and domestic cats.
Now about 20 kangaroo species are at the stage of extinction and are listed in the "Red Book". Scientists are sounding the alarm, because hunting wild herbivorous kangaroos, people are not able to maintain the necessary natural balance between species of animals and plants. Thus, the functioning of the entire food chain of the Australian flora and fauna is disrupted.
