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Red kangaroo        Images © Mark A. Chappell

Red kangaroos are the largest living marsupials and are well adapted to the arid interior of Australia.   Females (bottom row ; the one at right with a joey in her pouch) and young males (upper left) are grayish in color; only the adult males are the rusty red that gives the species its common name.   Most kangaroos, including reds, are largely nocturnal and I took most of these photos early in the morning (just after dawn), before the animals had retreated to cover (Fowlers Gap Research Station, north of Broken Hill, New South Wales).

  • bottom: Nikon F3, Leitz 560mm f5.6, Kodachrome 64 (1988)
  • others: Canon 1D3 or 40D, 500 mm f4 IS lens, some with 1.4X extender, or 70-200 f4 IS zoom (2009)