Kangaroos and Alligators, Oh My! | Wild Times

You can see he has those really cute little frog-like eyes. Look, I'm scratching his head and he says, that feels really nice. So he likes a good head scratch. We're the Irwins, and this is Australia Zoo. Our dad, Steve, built this zoo to protect our world's wildlife. Today, we strive to carry on his mission. So come with us. This is Wild Times. These are grey kangaroos, and kangaroos would have to be one of the most recognisable animals on planet Earth. And really, when you think Australia, you think these guys. Yeah, definitely. They are amazing. They're macropods. And so they have that incredible pouch there, which is where they raise their young. And the young start out only like this big. They're these tiny little animals and they grow up in the pouch. And then once they're old enough, they graduate to moving around on their own. But probably their most iconic thing about them is their jumping. They can jump over 30 feet in a single leap. They're amazing, aren't they? And they're called macropods because that literally means big feet. And if you look, their back feet look kind of like skis. And it's interesting to watch them move, because when they walk, they have that kind of awkward gait. But when they leap, that's where it's like poetry in motion. And that's all about kinetic energy, isn't it? It is, yeah. So it's actually really efficient when they jump. You can see that really big, strong tail as well. So that helps the balance. And it also acts as kind of like another limb when they're kind of hobbling along on the ground. We've got somebody else special to you. We've got someone very special. His name is Eli, and he's about 10 months old. And this little guy is now to the point where his mother would be saying, you need to get out of the pouch now. So he still likes sitting in his little makeshift pouch. And he was orphaned. It was up to our team to raise him, and then he'll integrate in with the other roos. Kangaroos are so resilient as well. What you'll often see them doing in really hot climates, they'll actually lick their little wrists and their hands. And that acts as kind of evaporative cooling. And that cools their whole body down. They're a little bit like kind of like a deer in personality, like a deer crossed with a rabbit, maybe. Yeah, no, it's a good description. And especially when they're little like this, they require a lot of care because they they have to grow up big and strong and kind of learn how to be a kangaroo. So for us at Australia Zoo, it definitely takes a lot of time and a lot of care to raise a little roo like this. Now, here at Australia Zoo, we have a lot of amazing animals. You know, we've got tigers and crocodiles, but some of our creatures are a bit less exotic. This is Stella, and she's my little pug. She's really cute. We love her. What do you think? You know what I reckon? How about we give Sven a walk? Does that sound fun? Yeah. OK, here we go. Ready, Sven? Let's put the leash on you. It's OK. Put this on. There you go. It's OK. Leash is on. Come on, Stella. Sven, Sven, it's OK. It's all right. It's OK. It's OK. Stella. OK, calm down, Stella. This is crazy. All right. My goal is to make them best of friends by the end of this. And I don't think they're quite best friends, but I think Stella really likes Sven. And this was a lot of fun. That was pandemonium. Goat-emonium. We are joined with one of the most amazing and prehistoric creatures on the planet. This is the American alligator. This one is Andre. He's really cool. He's a nice big boy, but he'll grow a lot bigger than this. The American alligators, they don't get quite as big as the salties, but they could get up and over 12 feet in length. And he's so cute. Have a look at his adorable little face. He kind of looks like a frog with sharp lips. That's what dad always used to say. So you can see he has those really cute little frog like eyes. Look, I'm scratching his head and he says, that feels really nice. He likes a good head scratch. He's really nice and calm. Whereas if this was a crocodile, it would be a totally different story. A little bit different. He'd probably be going a little bit crazy at the moment. And especially in the water, the crocodiles are so territorial. If you were to go in the water with a croc, he'd definitely be trying to get you out. Whereas alligators, you still probably wouldn't want to swim with them. But they're a lot more kind of calm and docile. He's got his eyes there. Those little slits there, that's that's his ears. He's like, oh, hello. And you can see his little nasal disc there. And so everything's perfectly designed when they come and they pop up out of the water. They come up there, they have a little look and they can pop right back down again. Their eyes, ears and nose are right at the surface. It's a really cool design. You know, with all crocodilians, they've got that amazing, those scoots. And so what these do, this is actually allows them to move completely undetected and they create these currents and counter currents so they can move through literally this much water. And you have no idea they're there. They're absolutely amazing. And they can hold their breath for hours on end. They truly are prehistoric. As you can see, Andre is the sweetest alligator in the whole wide world. And these guys really do have amazing personalities and they're such special animals. So that's why we always want to teach people to just love all crocodiles, all alligators. We never want to see these guys turned into boots, bags and belts, because that is just tragic. So the number one thing that you can do to help protect all alligators is to never purchase any wildlife products because their skin looks better on the alligator. Hey, absolutely. They're so special. We'll get there. One of the most memorable kind of stories for me was the first time I ever fed a crocodile. I was so excited because, Mum, you would know, since I was about two years old, ever since I could start talking, I I wanted to feed the crocodiles. Being a responsible parent, I waited till you were 10. Yeah. Yes, that's responsible parenting. And so I turned 10 and I fed my first crocodile, which was Monty. And for me, it was just this incredible kind of moving experience to be this close to this prehistoric creature. So he kind of came out, exploded out of the water. I threw him some food and he kind of had a bit of a look at me and went back in. And it's definitely something I'll never, never forget. Next week on Wild Times, we're here about to wrangle one of the most amazing animals, the Gila monster. These guys are truly venomous lizard. OK, mate. All right. You're a lizard man. You do what you need to do.