Louise Seguin, age 12, of St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada,c for her question:

How many kinds of kangaroo are there?

In Australia, all sorts of animals are called kangaroos    but this does not prove that they are true kangaroos. For example, one animal is called a tree kangaroo and there is quite an assortment of creatures called rat kangaroos. Then there are various wallabies, often called small kangaroos. In some ways all these animals are related to each other and to the true kangaroos. For all of the them are marsupial mammals.

However, merely being a pouched mammal is not enough to qualify an animal as a true kangaroo. Strictly speaking, there are only two of these, both of them whoppers. The mighty males stand six or seven feet tall and weigh about 200 pounds. The Great Grey Kangaroo alias the Forester, ranges through east and west Australia and parts of Tasmania. His soft coat is mainly grey. The Great Red Kangaroo is more common in central Australia. His soft grey coat is tinged with shades of mauve and rusty red.