Twelve kangaroo facts, fact-checked
Kangaroos are the largest marsupials alive and the only large animals that hop as their main gait. Full profile in our kangaroo guide.
1. They cannot hop backwards
Large feet and a thick, inflexible tail make reversing impossible — part of why the kangaroo appears on Australia's coat of arms as a symbol of moving forward.
2. Hopping gets more efficient with speed
Elastic tendons in the legs store and return energy like springs, so a kangaroo uses barely more energy at 20 km/h than at 10.
3. The tail is a fifth leg
When walking slowly, a kangaroo supports its weight on its tail and produces as much propulsive force with it as with a human leg.
4. Females can pause a pregnancy
Embryonic diapause holds a fertilised embryo in suspension until conditions improve or the current joey leaves the pouch.
5. A mother can produce two milks at once
Different teats supply different compositions simultaneously — one for a newborn, one for an older joey still returning to the pouch.
6. Newborns are about 2 cm long
Born blind and hairless, a joey crawls unaided through the fur to the pouch.
7. Red kangaroos reach 2 m tall
Large males can exceed 90 kg, making them the largest marsupials alive.
8. They can reach 70 km/h
Sustained speed is far lower, but red kangaroos can hit around 70 km/h in short bursts and clear 8 m in one hop.
9. Males box, and it is serious
Sparring uses forearms to grapple and the tail as a brace for a two-footed kick that can be genuinely dangerous.
10. They wet their forearms to cool down
Saliva evaporating from a dense surface network of blood vessels is an effective heat-loss mechanism in hot, dry country.
11. They are ruminant-like, but not ruminants
Kangaroos ferment plant matter with gut microbes but produce far less methane than cattle, which has attracted agricultural research interest.
12. Most species are not threatened
The large kangaroos are abundant and commercially harvested, while several smaller macropods are threatened or already extinct.
Read the full kangaroo wildlife guide for IUCN status, population context and sources — or donate to WARN to help fund the partner teams protecting wildlife on the ground.
