Kangaroo

Kangaroo
(Creature)
Common N Medium Animal Level 0 Alignment LG NG CG LN N CN LE NE CE Adjective Kangaroo Source: Bestiary 3, pg(s). 146 Type Animal CR ½ Environment Temperate hills or plains Alignment LG NG CG LN N CN LE NE CE Adjective Kangaroo Source: Bestiary 3, pg(s). 191

Kangaroos are strong, human-sized, mouse-faced marsupial animals with strong hind legs and a loping, hopping gait. While often placid herbivores, kangaroos can be powerful and agile defenders of their territory.

Appearance

The most common kangaroo breeds have red or brown fur, and can grow to heights of more than six feet tall and weigh up to 200 pounds, while variants might be significantly larger or smaller. They have long faces and large ears, as well as keen eyes that can identify threats across long distances. A kangaroo's tail is thick and muscular.

They have sharp claws on their forelimbs and hind legs, the former of which males use in displays of dominance known as "boxing", and the latter of which can quickly disembowel a threat when deployed by a kangaroo that rocks back onto their strong tail.

Female kangaroos have a belly pouch in which they carry their offspring, which are known as joeys.

Ecology

Kangaroos prefer to live in open grasslands, and are often passive toward and avoidant of other creatures. They are social among their own kind and travel in herd-like groups similar in nature to camels, horses, and pigs.

Female kangaroos bear only one offspring at a time but can reproduce in rapid succession. In areas where kangaroos are common, their rapid reproduction and substantial mass make them sufficient meat animals for sustaining a small community.

Due to their speed and size kangaroos have few natural predators, such as drakes and giant eagles.

As animal companions

See also: Animal companion

Kangaroos are tempting creatures for smaller humanoids, such as gnomes and halflings, to attempt to domesticate as mounts either by riding on their back or in their pouch. However, the creatures' muscular frames and stubborn natures disorient most such riders before dumping them onto the ground. However, druids have occasionally made loyal companions of some kangaroos.

When tamed for sale, a kangaroo often costs about 30 gold pieces to purchase.

Variants

Kangaroos of different regions have adapted with differing traits, such as the smaller gray kangaroos of southern Garund or the 12-foot-tall giant kangaroos of the steppes of northern Casmaron.

Similar creatures

Similar marsupial creatures include wallabies and pademelons. Thylacines are marsupials sometimes compared to kangaroos for their powerful hind legs and ability to stand on and leap from their haunches.

External links

• Kangaroo (real-world animal) on Wikipedia