

Red Kangaroos are found over most of arid Australia, preferring flat open plains. A female kangaroo is known as a ‘ flyer’ or a ‘ doe’ and a male kangaroo a ‘ buck’ or a ‘ boomer’ (hence the nickname of the Australian men’s basketball team, the Boomers). Kangaroos are famous for their forward-opening pouch, where the joey (baby kangaroo) develops and suckles.

Kangaroos can’t hop backwards and are featured on the Australian coat of arms as a symbol of national progress: an animal that can only move forwards.Ī kangaroo on the move. They also use their tail when swimming that’s right – kangaroos are good swimmers! They swim to avoid predators, and can use their forepaws to drown pursuers. Their muscular tail is used for balance when hopping, and as another limb when moving about. Depending on the species, their fur coat can be red, grey or light to dark brown. They have excellent hearing and keen eyesight. Kangaroos are famous for hopping and can reach speeds of 60kph, clearing more than 8m in a single bound!Īll kangaroos have short hair, powerful hind legs, small forelimbs, big feet and a long tail. Black Wallaroos, at around 20kg, are the smallest species (their name a portmanteau of wallaby and kangaroo). A Red Kangaroo can weigh 90kg and can grow two metres tall. Kangaroos are the world’s largest marsupials.
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Plus, their meat was, and continues to be, a staple protein source pelts were used for clothing and rugs and their skin crafted into water bags. Kangaroos are of cultural and spiritual significance to Aboriginal people across Australia. The word kangaroo derives from ‘ Gangurru’, the name given to Eastern Grey Kangaroos by the Guuga Yimithirr people of Far North Queensland. antilopinus), Common Wallaroo (or Euro) ( M. These include the Red Kangaroo ( Macropus rufus), Eastern Grey Kangaroo ( M. What’s the difference between a kangaroo and a wallaby? Kangaroos are simply the larger animals in the Macropus genus.

Kangaroos belong to the Macropodidae family, meaning ‘ big foot’ in Latin (a reference to their large back feet). No image of outback Australia is complete without a mob of kangaroos hopping across the horizon.
