Type: Mammal
Diet: Herbivore
Average lifespan in the wild: 8 to 10 years
Size: Up to 7 ft. (2.1 m)
Weight: Up to 120 lbs (54 kg)
Group name: Mob
Did you know? A kangaroo can hop along at speeds of over 35 miles (56 kilometers) an hour.
What does a kangaroo look like?
Adult kangaroos have extremely long and powerful hind legs that can propel them across open savanna at amazing speeds. The two main types of large kangaroo are the red kangaroo and the grey kangaroo. The kangaroos have a pouch, strong hind legs, and a solid tail which they use for balance and support. The tremendous leaps of a red kangaroo may measure up to 30 feet in length and 10 feet in height.
Kangaroo video.
Where do kangaroos live?
Kangaroos are native to Australia alone - no other continent or island. Tree kangaroos can be found in New Guinea as well as in the far northern rainforests of Australia, but that is the only variety found anywhere else apart from Australia. Kangaroos' habitats include grasslands, mulga scrub, bushland (not too dense) and open plains - wherever there is food, and shade trees. Red kangaroos prefer this type of habitat. They will generally not frequent rocky slopes and hillsides, this being more territory for wallabies and wallaroos. However, they will shelter under cliffs and in caves in bad weather.
What does a kangaroo eat?
Kangaroos are herbivores, primarily eating grass and other vegetation, feeding in the early morning and late afternoon or evening towards sunset. Besides grass, they eat young shoots and tender leaves of native shrubs. They enjoy grains as well, but being herbivorous, they do not eat any other animals. Kangaroos are grazing animals, and they will regurgitate their food to chew like cattle chew their cud. Tree kangaroos eat leaves, and sometimes fruit.
Why do kangaroos hop?
Rabbits, grasshoppers and frogs share a special spring in their steps, hopping around like Mexican jumping beans. But Australia's native kangaroo out-hops them all. Race a cottontail rabbit against a red kangaroo, and the roo would leap ahead at a possible 35 mph (56 kph), more than twice the top speed of Peter Rabbit. In fact, these marsupials are the only large mammals to use this pogo stick-styled locomotion.
Did you know this about kangaroos?
Kangaroos have some funny names. Males are called boomers, bucks or old men. Females are known as flyers, jills or does. And young kangaroos are called joeys.
There are only four true kangaroo species: the red, eastern gray, western gray and antilopine kangaroos. There are roughly 50 other closely related species, including wallabies, tree-kangaroos and pademelons.
Most of the kangaroo's natural predators have gone extinct, including the thylacine and marsupial lion. Today, the dingo — introduced to Australia some 5,000 years ago — is one of the only predators they have to worry about.
Kangaroo images
Kangaroo Wallpapers
Download free Kangaroo wallpapers, click on the image to open the large version.
Kangaroo wallpaper 1
Kangaroo wallpaper 2
Kangaroo wallpaper 3
Kangaroo wallpaper 4
Kangaroo wallpaper 5
Kangaroo wallpaper 6
Kangaroo Coloring pages
Print free Kangaroo coloring pages, click on the image to open the large version.
