Reasons Why Kangaroo Abandons Their Babies to Predators

Kangaroos are generally considered to be cute animals despite the males of the species looking ripped like Arnold Schwarzenegger. But female kangaroos, on the other hand, are a complex and different sort of creature. Watching a cute joey, you would think a kangaroo would never want to let go of her baby. However, kangaroos often sacrifice their young when resources are low or offer them to predators in a bid to escape. Why would they do that? Today we're going to find out why kangaroos abandon their babies to predators as well as learn about other good and bad parents in the animal kingdom. Before we start, make sure to give this video a thumbs up if you enjoy it, subscribe to Orange Planet and hit the bell icon for notifications. Now let's get into it. The Cuckoo Bird Lays Her Eggs In Other Birds' Nests How many poems have you read extolling the virtues of the cuckoo bird? Did you know a female cuckoo is one crafty mom who just can't be bothered with the parenting gig? Instead of taking care of her own offspring, she'll creep into an unattended nest for another bird, eat one of the eggs there and replace the missing egg with her own. The cuckoo egg hatches faster and the little cuckoo chick may even end up throwing out the other step chicks who may not survive. There are some instances when the female cuckoo's wily actions are caught and she's stopped by other birds from laying her eggs in their nests. But in most cases, the bad mama cuckoo will get away with her evil deeds. Only 1 In 10 Tasmanian Devil Pups Survive Taking survival of the fittest to the next level is how Tasmanian Devil mommies rear their young. This is one hardcore little animal who just doesn't give a damn which one of her kids make it. You see, a female Tasmanian Devil will give birth to the horde of little Tasmanian babies, somewhere between 40 and 50 pups to be precise, but she just has 4 teats to feed them. You'd think Mama Taz would establish a sharing routine, but that just isn't the case. Whoever gets to the third first wins, and invariably only the strongest get to the teats first and therefore become bigger and stronger than their brethren. This means 40 to 46 pups may not live at all. That's a bit unfair on Mother Nature's part, don't you think? Christmas Island Crabs Gorge On Christmas Island Crab Babies If there's one creature on Earth that deserves an award for bad parenting, it's the Christmas Island Crab. Where females don't even know which baby is there, the migration of the Red Christmas Island Crab is regarded as one of the most spectacular events in nature. During the event, millions of crabs will try to get to the beaches and oceans from force every year in winter. They spawn their eggs in the sea and leave them there. When the eggs hatch, the baby crabs are on their own and many lose their way, drifting farther into the ocean. A potentially worse fate awaits the baby crabs who are able to crawl out of the ocean to get to the jungle zone. While babies are heading into the jungle, female crabs are returning to the coast to lay more eggs. The female crabs don't think twice of chomping down the little juicy crabs, which is bizarre because they could be eating their own babies. They don't say nature is metal for nothing. Elephants Babysit Other Elephant Babies If you've seen enough bad animal parenting behavior, then let's move on to the opposite end of the spectrum. Elephants can be the most caring animal on the planet, and they won't hesitate to take care of another female's young too. Elephants even babysit each other's calves, which increases the baby's chance of surviving while it learns the parenting process too. If a baby elephant loses its mother, the herd will work together to take care of it. However, as loving as they are, elephant herds may not accept orphaned calves from another herd, although in some rare cases they have been known to do so. Now isn't that just heartwarming? I like this end of the spectrum. Orangutans Share A Deep Bond Between Their Young Primates like elephants can be said to be some of the most empathetic animals in the world. The female orangutan especially shares a unique bond with her baby and during the first two years of its life will feed and keep it close to her at all times. It isn't uncommon for orangutan mothers to stay with their young for up to seven years, constantly teaching them family values, how to forage for food, and how to build a nest. Yes, monkeys build nests where they like to retire at the end of the day or take an afternoon snooze. Young teenage orangutans each visit their mothers until they reach the age of sixteen. It's surprising, but monkeys can teach us a lot about emotions and are even known to mourn their dead. In one experiment, researchers placed an animatronic baby monkey with eyes for cameras among a group of langurs. When one adult dropped the fake baby from a branch, he thought he had killed it and expressed remorse. In fact, the whole herd gathered around to mourn the passing of one of their own. Now, The Reason Why Kangaroos Abandon Their Babies Coming back to our main story of the day, kangaroos do care for their young. So why do they abandon them? The thing is, a mother kangaroo can have multiple babies at different stages of development with her at any given time. Sometimes up to three children are being cared for by the mother kangaroo. When resources are low or the situation is dire, the mother has to make tough decisions. This is because she just can't support all three babies and must give up one to ensure the survival of the others. Now that's pretty heartbreaking, but that's not the end of the story. If a mother kangaroo is confronted by a predator that she can't outwit or outrun, she might just abandon it. That sounds horrifying, right? Female kangaroos are all about breeding, so if she's killed, she won't be able to look after another baby that might be growing in her or produce more babies. Therefore, female kangaroos are hardwired to protect themselves and their survival even above their own joey. Yes, that's tough, but that's nature. We hope you learned something today. If you enjoyed this video, give us a like and subscribe to Orange Planet. See you on the next one. Until then, take care of yourself and your babies.