Jirra the Red Kangaroo
Posted at 4:13 pm April 11, 2007 by Maureen O. Duryee
Last year the Hunte Amphitheater at the San Diego Zoo was lucky enough to receive two baby red kangaroos. When they arrived, one was a small and delicate female we named Jirra, which in Aborigine translates to kangaroo. The other was a handsome large male we named Tangarie, which means kangaroo in yet another aboriginal dialect. We bottle fed them for the first few months, as this was a very bonding time for all trainers; it also gave us the chance to establish trust and it was fun to do!
Red kangaroos are the largest marsupials in the world. Females can get up to 4 feet tall and weigh 90 pounds; male red kangaroos can get up to 6 feet (1.8 meters) tall and weighing 200 pounds (90 kilograms). Jirra is known as a blue flyer, due to her outer gray coat color. Even though she is called a red kangaroo, only the under coat is red. Tangarie has a ruddy red coat and is often referred to as a red rover. Both animals are being trained to wear a harness and hop on a lead. Currently, you can often see Jirra in one of our shows.
Jirra was very easy to train once we found a food treat that she loved, which happened to be raw yams. Kangaroos are herbivores, eating a large variety of plants and vegetables. We slice the yam lengthwise to give her something to hold onto as she earnestly chomps on the vegetable. Jirra loves her show spot so much that sometimes it is hard to get her to exit the stage. Often the spokesperson needs to improvise with extraneous information while the trainer encourages Jirra to hop off stage. Kangaroos are the only large mammals to use hopping as a form of locomotion. This animal is capable of hopping at speeds of 30 miles per hour (48 kilometers per hour). We invite you all to watch her in action at the Hunte Amphitheater.
Maureen O Duryee is an animal trainer at the San Diego Zoo’s Hunte Amphitheater.
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April 12th, 2007 at 6:46 am
Wow! What a great story. Jirra sounds like quite a girl. It is fabulous when animals enjoy their moment in the ” spotlight,” as it gives humans more opportunities to watch them up close, and form an emotional bond.
Kangaroos are very special animals with great emotional appeal. It is hard to believe that they can also be very formidable foes. Watching a mother with a young Joey is very entertaining and educational.
Both Jirra and Tangarie are blessed to be in such a warm and nurturing environment and to grow up with such a strong human support system. Since they came as babies, I guess it was easy to ” spoil” them the human way. Do they ever interact with other Kangaroos to learn how to be a Kangaroo?
Please share future tales of their ” spotlight” with us.
April 13th, 2007 at 8:51 am
As a frequent zoo visitor, I often stop by the Hunte Ampitheater and watch one of ” The Wild Ones” shows. I have never been disappointed–in fact I come away having learned something new each time. Each animal that’s featured is gorgeous and incredibly valuable in his or her own way. Now that Sven Olof is proudly demonstrating his recycling techniques and with Jirra on board, I look forward to catching another show soon. ” The Wild Ones” may simply be a fun 20 minutes of entertainment for some guests, but for me, the presentation offers much, much more. It’s a fantastic glimpse at the marvelous animals we share our world with and a beautiful, respectful, and sometimes humorous look at their natural behaviors. Thank you to the trainers who work with the animals each day and to all involved who create, prepare, and present the shows to all of us.
April 16th, 2007 at 9:03 am
Diana, thanks for providing an audience perspective. I am sure that the programs are very beneficial for the audience as well as the animals and the trainers. I remember how impressed I was when visiting Silver Springs, FL. They have trained cats and dogs they got from local shelters to do amazing things. Not only did they rescue precious animals from a bad fate, they also taught them valuable behaviors and gave them a wonderful new life they can share with many people every day. When you leave you come away with a feeling of awe, and determined to help rescue shelter animals to provide them with a second chance as well. That is one reason I keep asking if Sven was a rescued animal. His reluctance to take a folded newspaper suggests to me that he might have been. So many animals domesticated, and wild are destroyed because of behavior challenges. Domesticated animals can be trained to ” polite social” behavior, and wild animals need to have humans make whatever accomodations are necessary to allow them to live their natural wild behavior. Often this means stop hunting them down, and leaving their natural habitat alone for them to live in as they need to do so.
Moderator’s note: Maureen tells us that Sven came to the Zoo as a young pup, not as a rescue animal. He doesn’t like to mouth any kind of ” soft” paper such as newspaper, paper towels, or tissue paper, but likes tougher paper products like cardboard and a paper towel tube. She thinks he just doesn’t like the ” feel” of the softer paper in his mouth.
April 18th, 2007 at 6:39 am
Thanks for the clarification, Moderator.
Different strokes for different ” folks.” Every individual animal, humans included, have their own set of preferences. Sven likes ” hard” substantial items, other dogs, like mine, prefer softer like stuffed animals, and live animals.
He is a beautiful animal. Does Sven stay at the zoo at night, or does he go home with one of the keepers? Since he is such a shy guy, the exposure to the visitors while he is ” on stage” would help him overcome his shyness. So would being in a human household doing normal things a pet dog might do. Besides, it would give him opportunities to practice his recycling skills. I noticed that some of the animals ” walk” around the zoo to different areas for exposure to guests and for special keeper talks. Does Sven do that too? If so he might also get chances to practice and demonstrate his recycling prowess as he walks through the zoo.
May 2nd, 2007 at 8:06 am
Thank Youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!
November 14th, 2008 at 7:40 am
i have to learn about red kangaroos and what they learn in their life.please help me get an A+
Moderator’s note: You can learn more about kangaroos in our Animal Bytes section at http://www.sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/t-kangaroo.html
July 14th, 2009 at 4:00 pm
Are all Domesticated animals can be trained to â? polite socialâ? behavior and wild animals need to have humans make whatever accomodations necessary to allow them to live their natural wild behavior?