Kangaroo Facts

About the kangaroo

The name usually refers to the largest species in the family: the red kangaroo, the antilopine kangaroo and the eastern and western grey kangaroos. All are native to Australia and New Guinea. A big male can stand 2 meters (6 feet 7 inches) and reach 90 kg (200 lb). The Australian government estimated 42.8 million kangaroos in its commercial harvest areas in 2019, down from 53.2 million in 2013.

Kangaroos, wallaroos and wallabies all belong to the family Macropodidae, and the names mostly sort the animals by size. The largest are kangaroos, the smallest are wallabies and wallaroos fall in between. Tree-kangaroos are another kind of macropod that lives high in rainforest trees in New Guinea, far northeastern Queensland and nearby islands. The dwarf wallaby, the smallest macropod, is just 46 cm long.

Did you know?

• Kangaroo, wallaby and wallaroo are informal size labels rather than separate natural groups.
• The dwarf wallaby weighs only about 1.6 kg (3.5 lb).
• Macropods get their group name from a word meaning large foot.