What is a red kangaroo?
The red kangaroo is the largest kangaroo and the largest living marsupial. It lives across the dry plains and deserts of inland Australia, and big males can stand about two metres tall.
Adult males can weigh up to about 90 kilograms. They usually have reddish-brown fur, while females are often blue-grey and are sometimes called blue fliers. Both have a white underside and black and white markings on the muzzle.
Red kangaroos are built for open country. They can hop at speeds of over 50 kilometres per hour and cover up to eight or nine metres in a single bound. Hopping uses elastic tendons in the legs, making it an efficient way to travel long distances.
Surviving the outback
Red kangaroos rest in shade during the heat of the day and feed in the evening, night and early morning. They lick their forearms to cool down, as evaporating saliva carries heat away from blood vessels near the skin.
They can survive long periods without drinking, getting much of their water from green plants. Females can pause the development of an embryo, called embryonic diapause, and resume it when conditions improve.
Red kangaroos are common and not threatened. They appear on the Australian coat of arms alongside the emu.
Did You Know?
A newborn red kangaroo joey is about the size of a jellybean and weighs less than one gram.