They are helped by their mothers, reports the magazine 'Around the World'.
Marsupial infants, while in the pouch, cannot independently empty their intestines and bladder. As waste accumulates in these organs, the circular sphincter muscles constrict their openings.
Therefore, the female occasionally (in large kangaroos, this happens several times a day) puts her snout into the pouch and licks the rear end of the infant. This massage causes a reflex relaxation of the sphincters, leading to the expulsion of feces and urine, which the female then consumes.
This behavior is observed in females not only of marsupials but also in some species of placental mammals, whose infants are born blind and helpless, such as carnivores and many rodents.
