- [Coyote] What's going on guys? Everybody's having dinner. And right now because
it is feeding time they're all gathered
around, we've got, some delicious kangaroo pellets. - [Cameraman] Oh
you're eating it? Oh no, oh Coyote, oh. (tribal drumming music) (guitar music) - [Coyote] Australia hails claim to many iconic animal species. And I am sure that if I
asked you to name a few, it wouldn't be hard to
shout out creatures, such as crocodiles, koalas, and arguably the outbacks most
recognizable, the kangaroo. Hi bud, how are ya? These powerful marsupials
are endemic to Australia, which means this great continent is the only place in the
world they can be found. And while it's not uncommon to see them hopping
across the countryside, to get up close with
a troop of them, we needed to visit a location where they were
acclimated to humans. The best place to do that was the one and only
Billabong Sanctuary. Located in Nome, a small
town just south of Townsville in North Queensland. The Billabong Sanctuary is considered to be
one of Australia's top ecotourism attractions. There it is, that
is the Billabong and this is where the Billabong
Sanctuary gets it's name. For over 35 years, they have been contributing
to conservation efforts, while also providing the public with a hands on
education about wildlife. And while some of their species are considered too
dangerous to interact with like feeding a saltwater
crocodile by hand. Feeding kangaroos is an
experience the crew and I simply couldn't pass up on. So if you're ready,
grab your snacks because it's kangaroo
feeding time. Okay, well this is cool, now there are multiple
different kangaroos that live on the grounds here
at the Billabong Sanctuary and that right there
is the red kangaroo. Now this is the largest
land mammal here in the continent of Australia. I have some kangaroo
feed with me right here, let me see if I can
feed this kangaroo. How are you? He's like, umm, I don't know. No, the red kangaroo
I'm told is shyer than the eastern
greys that are here. Uh oh, we're bringing
in whistling ducks. The whistling ducks also
love this food, look at that. Oh, the beaks are
showing really, yeah. I think I'm gettin'
low, interesting. (laughing) - [Cameraman] Never
hand fed a duck. - Oh look, they're
fightin' each other now. Ow, ow, ow! Ow! Jeez, that one
really got me good. - [Cameraman] Oh,
that's a goose! - It's like a vulture
goose right there. Yeah, that'd give you a wallop. - [Cameraman] Ah, look at that. - Oh yeah, he got you. We can probably catch
one of these ducks. He's like nope, alright. - [Cameraman] The
red kangaroo's gone. - And the red kangaroo
just like that disappeared. Alright, let's go find
the eastern greys. (upbeat electronica music) There. - [Cameraman] You see one. - I see one right
through there, see it. Let's see if the
(mumbles) is here. (birds chirping) What's goin' on, guys? Yes, everybody's havin' dinner. It's amazing we can
just come right in and get up close with kangaroo. - [Cameraman] I mean these
kangaroos are not in enclosures, they just roam freely. - [Coyote] The roam freely
here at the sanctuary and the decide when and
where they wanna go. And right now because
it is feeding time, they are all gathered around. We've got some delicious
kangaroo pellets. - [Cameraman] Uh, you're eating
it, oh no, no Coyote, no. - Really dry. Kind of tastes like bran meal. Look at this one here,
hey bud, how are you? How are those grasses? Oh look at this,
this is a momma, we got a joey sticking
out on this backside here. Baby, you know it's
dinner time, right? Maybe it's still small
enough to be drinking milk. Here's something
maybe you didn't know, all baby marsupials
are called joeys, so whether it's a possum, a
kangaroo, a wombat or a koala, they're all considered joeys. Oh, look at this, he's
gettin' ready to come out. Oh yeah. Look at that right there,
little joey coming out. That's kind of
interesting is that I didn't know that joeys could turn around inside
the pouch like that, so you actually have the
hind legs hanging out here and the hand and
the little face. Hi bud, how are you? Coming out for some dinner? - [Cameraman] Now,
how much longer 'til that joey's
out of the pouch? - [Coyote] Well,
that's what's cool is that the joeys can go
in and out of the pouch. Now when they're really little, they stay inside of the pouch not only to nourish off
of the mother's milk, but they can also
use it as protection and as a place to sleep. Now, until that kangaroo is big enough to not
fit in the pouch, it will continue to
go into the pouch until it can sort of
take care of itself. I love the design of
the kangaroo's head, almost looks like
the head of a deer and what's similar to deer is that they can actually
individually move their ears, so they can listen
in one direction and turn another
like 180-degrees and hear what's behind them. They don't actually even
have to move their heads to be able to listen. - [Cameraman] Now what is
that thing you're eating? - Some sort of, almost
looks like razor grass, but it's just, hmm, some sort of a sweet grass. That's good, I see why
you guys like that. - I got an idea, why don't we go feed
some of those kangaroos over there on the hill? - Okay, I'm gonna still
some of this, let's see. We're gonna see if
these kangaroos over
here want some food. Hey bud, look, I got
some treats for ya'. Hops right up. Now their little
noses are so soft. This is a little juvenile and this is a great
example of a kangaroo that's now big enough to be
outside of its mother's pouch, but even though they
look docile and gentle, if you were to ever come
across a kangaroo in the wild you have to remember that
they can be very territorial especially the males and the last thing you
want to have happen is to be kicked by one
of those hind legs. Now the hind legs are
incredibly powerful, let's take a look at that
with this little joey that's just hangin'
out with us here. And they are powerful,
powerful parts to this animal and there's a lot of
muscle right in here and then in the back is where they have
their achilles tendon. Oop, see that jump right there and it's like this
creature is spring-loaded. Almost like when you
stretch a rubber band. When they bend down
and then leap off, that hop can project them
forward at incredible speeds. Now, when the kangaroo
reaches top speeds it's capable of
bounding a single leap that's as far as 30-feet and if it needs to it can jump at a height
of close to 10-feet and for reference, that's as
tall as an NBA basketball rim. That's interesting,
kangaroos have teeth that are very similar to
the teeth of the wombat and the koala. Seems like all marsupials have a very similar
dental structure. It is again, this animal is a combination of multiple things
from the United States like the head and ears
look like that of a deer, the legs are like
that of a rabbit and then the tail, well, I guess I've never seen
a tail quite like that before, do you? - [Cameraman] No. (laughing) Well, I would say this fur is almost like underfur, it's not very wirey,
it's very soft. - No, it is really, really soft. Well, I can imagine that with
how hot it is in Australia, they need to keep cool and during the heat of the day, kangaroos will actually
curl up in the shade. And here's something
kind of interesting, they will lick their
paws, their forearms and their legs to stay cool, so you know how a dog
will pant to sweat. The kangaroos cool
themselves down by licking their arms and hands. - [Cameraman] Let's
see this snack. - Try the carrot,
like the carrot? - Nope, so no carrots. - [Cameraman] Carrots? I was told they like carrots. - I guess not. They must have a very
high in fiber diet with all these little bran
pellets that they're eating. Oh, there's a hop
away, look at that. - [Cameraman] I think
dinner time might be over. - Yeah, well the sun is
starting to get low in the sky and at this point they're
probably getting ready to hunker down for the night. Of course, there
are no predators for you here at the sanctuary, are there? Real nice, safe place to
sleep under a tree maybe. What do you think? You wanna have a
sleepover, have a camp out? Would that be cool? Ha, that would be so cool
to camp out with a kangaroo. That's a GoPro camera, you
ever seen one of those? Heard something off
in the distance, huh. Well I would say that this is
the perfect end to our day, hanging out for dinner with
the eastern grey kangaroo. I'm Coyote Peterson,
be brave, stay wild, we'll see you on
the next adventure. Hey Coyote Pack, I have
some exciting news. I'm proud to announce that the crew and I will
be back on tour in 2018 with Brave Wilderness Live. Visiting cities all
across North America. Our first shows are in Anaheim
and San Diego, California. From there, we head
to Phoenix, Arizona. Beyond that, we will be visiting
San Francisco, California, Portland, Oregon,
Seattle, Washington and Boulder, Colorado. With many more shows to be
announced in the coming months. Tickets can be purchased at
the Great Wilderness website, so make sure to reserve
your seats today and don't forget, subscribe, so you can join me and the crew on this season of
Breaking Trail. I'm Coyote Peterson, be brave. (kids cheering be wild) (coyote calling)
