Australian WalkAbout - Kangaroos by the Sea

A stop on San Francisco Zoo: Exhibit by Exhibit, a free self-guided tour.

Spread before you is the Australian WalkAbout, a 2.2-acre habitat with a dry riverbed and rocky slopes, opened in 1995. You may see kangaroos lounging in the grass and emus striding along the fence line. Nearby, look for the cassowary, a tall rainforest bird with a bony helmet on its head.

Kangaroos travel by hopping, using their big hind legs like springs and their thick tails for balance. When grazing slowly, they lean on the tail as a kind of fifth leg. Emus cannot fly, but they run fast on long legs, and it is the father emu that sits on the eggs and raises the chicks.

In the afternoon you may find the kangaroos resting in a sheltered hollow; they tend to be most active early and late in the day. Australia is home to more kinds of marsupials than anywhere else on Earth.

Getting here: Walk northeast along the upper lake to the WalkAbout overlook near Sloat Boulevard.

Did you know?: A red kangaroo moving at speed can cover about 25 feet in a single bound.

Photo op: Wait for an emu to walk near the rail for a close-up of its shaggy feathers and blue-gray neck.

For kids: Watch a grazing kangaroo. Can you see it lean on its tail like a fifth leg as it moves forward?

Nearby: Cafe Playfield and restrooms are back toward the playground; the Station Cafe is ahead in the Americas region.

More on Wikipedia: Red kangaroo · Emu · Southern cassowary

Australian WalkAbout - Kangaroos by the Sea

Stops on this tour