Species Fact Profile: Matschie's Tree Kangaroo (Dendrolagus matschiei)

Matschie's Tree Kangaroo

Dendrolagus matschiei (Foster & Rothschild, 1907)

Range: Huon Peninsula (Papua New Guinea)
Habitat: Montane Rainforest
Diet: Leaves, Fruits, Flowers, Buds.  Sometimes will consume insects, eggs, small birds
Social Grouping: Solitary and territorial outside of breeding season.  Ignore each other, even when they are in the same tree.  Male territory overlaps those of several females
Reproduction: Mating usually takes place on the ground.  No breeding season; female goes through estrous every 50-80 days.  Gestation 40-45 days (longest of any marsupial).  Joeys crawls into pouch right after birth; joey emerges from pouch for the first time at 250 days, leaves the pouch at 300 days, permanently at 350 days.  Sexually mature at 2 years old.
Lifespan: 14 Years
Conservation Status: IUCN Endangered

• Body length 55-63 centimeters, weight 6-13 kilograms.  Stocky body - front- and back-legs closer in size than is the case with most kangaroos and wallabies.  Tail equal in length to body
• Sexes look alike.  Chestnut to red-brown fur; tail, belly, ears, and feet are yellow; dark stripe down the back.  Face is yellow or white.  Thick, dense fur grows in opposite directions on the back and neck, allowing water to run off the body
• Spend much of their time in the trees, may leap 9 meters between branches.  Cannot climb down headfirst, must back down.
• Largely inactive, spend up to 60% of their days sleeping
• Zoo-based diets are often supplemented with tea leaves to replicate the high-tannin diets that they encounter in the wild
• Genus name translates to "Tree Rabbit."  Species name honors Paul Matschie, a German zoologist who discovered several species of tree kangaroos.
• Also found on the island of Umboi, but is believed to have been intrdouced by humans
• Locally hunted for meat (which has increased since the introduction of guns to the region), but habitat loss is the major threat