60 Fun Facts About Kangaroo

The English word 'kangaroo' comes from gangurru, a word in which Aboriginal language?

Guugu Yimithirr is spoken around Cooktown in far north Queensland, where Cook's crew first heard the word in 1770. It originally referred to one particular grey species rather than to all kangaroos.

Which animal is the largest surviving marsupial in the world?

A big male can stand two metres tall. Wombats and Tasmanian devils are marsupials too, but neither comes close.

A large male red kangaroo can weigh roughly how much?

That is about the weight of an adult man, packed onto an animal that can still clear nine metres in a single bound.

Over short distances, kangaroos can reach top speeds of up to about what?

Their comfortable cruising pace is only about 20-25 km/h, but a startled kangaroo can briefly match a car on a suburban road.

Roughly what share of a hopping kangaroo's potential energy is stored in its elastic tendons?

The tendons work like springs, which is why hopping faster costs a kangaroo surprisingly little extra energy.

At birth, a kangaroo joey is about the size of what?

The blind, hairless newborn then crawls unaided through its mother's fur to reach the pouch.

How long is a kangaroo's gestation before the tiny joey is born?

Most of a joey's development happens in the pouch rather than the womb, which is why the pregnancy is so short.

A joey usually stays in its mother's pouch for roughly how long?

Western grey joeys can spend anywhere from 180 to 320 days inside before hopping out for good.

What is a female kangaroo's ability to pause an embryo's development called?

It usually happens during drought or where food is scarce, so the next joey arrives when conditions improve.

Which of these is a traditional term for a male kangaroo?

Males are also called bucks, jacks or old men, while females are does, flyers or jills.

What is the usual collective noun for a group of kangaroos?

Court and troupe are also recorded, but mob is the everyday Australian word.

Which airline uses a bounding kangaroo as its logo?

The 'Flying Kangaroo' has been on Qantas tails since 1944 and has been redrawn several times since.

Kangaroo meat is prized for being lean. Roughly what percentage of it is fat?

It is also high in protein, which is why it is marketed as a healthy alternative to beef and lamb.

In 2019 the Australian government estimated how many kangaroos lived in commercial harvest areas?

That is well over one kangaroo per Australian resident, and the count covers only the harvest zones.

When chased, kangaroos and wallabies often flee into which terrain, where they are surprisingly capable?

A cornered kangaroo in water may even try to hold a pursuing dog under, a tactic sometimes reported in Australia.

Research on how kangaroos walk found that the tail does what?

When walking slowly on all fours, the tail provides as much propulsive force as the front and hind legs combined.

Which member of Cook's Endeavour voyage first recorded the word 'kanguru' in his diary in July 1770?

Banks was the expedition's wealthy young botanist and later ran the Royal Society for over 40 years.

Who commanded HMS Endeavour in 1770, when Europeans first described kangaroos during repairs?

The ship had struck the Great Barrier Reef and was patched up on the bank of what is now the Endeavour River at Cooktown.

Roughly what share of animal-vehicle collisions in Australia involve kangaroos?

Kangaroos are most active at dawn and dusk, when drivers see them least well.

Which extinct animal do palaeontologists consider a former major natural predator of kangaroos?

The thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, was itself a marsupial; the last known one died in Hobart Zoo in 1936.

Unlike cattle and sheep, kangaroos release virtually none of which digestive gas?

Their gut bacteria turn the hydrogen by-product of fermentation into acetate instead, which the animal can use for energy.

What unusual thing happens to a kangaroo's molars as the teeth wear down?

Grinding tough grass wears the front molars down first, so fresh teeth from the back move up to replace them.

What is the scientific name of the red kangaroo?

It was long listed as Macropus rufus before the genus Osphranter was revived for the red and the wallaroos.

How far can a male red kangaroo cover in a single leap?

Those bounds can also reach up to three metres off the ground, comfortably clearing a fence.

Male red kangaroos have red-brown fur, but the females are usually what colour?

The colour difference is so marked that bush slang calls the females 'blue flyers'.

How do red kangaroos manage to go for long periods without drinking?

They also get much of their moisture from fresh green grass and forbs, and rest in shade through the heat of the day.

Along with dingo packs, which bird of prey can occasionally kill an adult red kangaroo?

A pair of wedge-tails hunting together can bring down a full-grown animal; joeys are far easier prey.

The kangaroo family's scientific name comes from Greek words meaning what?

Most macropods have very long, narrow hind feet, from the tiny quokka to the largest reds.

Kangaroos, wallabies, tree-kangaroos, pademelons and the quokka all belong to which family?

There are 63 recognised living species in the family, native to Australia, New Guinea and nearby islands.

How is the extinct giant short-faced kangaroo Procoptodon thought to have moved?

Procoptodon goliah stood about 2.7 metres tall and weighed up to 240 kg, far too heavy to hop efficiently.

The boxing kangaroo flag became famous in 1983 flying from the yacht Australia II during which event?

Australia II ended the New York Yacht Club's 132-year hold on the trophy, the longest winning streak in sport.

On the boxing kangaroo flag, what colour is the background behind the golden kangaroo?

Green and gold are Australia's national sporting colours, and the flag's kangaroo wears red boxing gloves.

In WWII, boxing kangaroos were stencilled on RAAF fighters in Singapore to tell them apart from whose aircraft?

The Australian Olympic Committee later bought the image and still uses it to promote the national team.

Which bird stands opposite the kangaroo as a supporter of the shield on Australia's coat of arms?

Neither animal has ever been declared an official national emblem, despite appearing on the arms since 1908.

A popular explanation for the kangaroo and emu on Australia's coat of arms is that neither can easily do what?

The pair are said to symbolise a nation always moving forward, whatever the zoology says.

Which monarch granted the current Australian coat of arms, with kangaroo and emu, in 1912?

Behind the shield sits a wreath of golden wattle, the national floral emblem, though it is not botanically accurate.

Kangaroo Island is Australia's third-largest island. Which two islands are bigger?

Melville Island, off the Northern Territory coast, is home to the Tiwi people and rarely makes the headlines.

Which explorer named Kangaroo Island in 1802?

Flinders spelled it 'Kanguroo Island' after his hungry crew feasted on the tame local kangaroos.

The French explorer Baudin gave Kangaroo Island what name in honour of a mathematician?

Baudin and Flinders met by chance in 1802 at what is now Encounter Bay, despite their countries being at war.

Which blockbuster producer was behind the 2003 comedy Kangaroo Jack?

Christopher Walken played mobster Sal Maggio, whose $50,000 hops away in the jacket of the title.

In which sport does Australia's national team compete under the nickname the Kangaroos?

The rugby union side are the Wallabies and the footballers the Socceroos; the Kangaroos have won the Rugby League World Cup 12 times.

'Kangaroo care', holding premature babies skin-to-skin, was developed in 1978 in which city?

Neonatologist Edgar Rey Sanabria introduced it to cope with a shortage of incubators and staff, and it is now recommended worldwide.

The earliest known printed use of 'kangaroo court' appeared in 1841 in a newspaper from which city?

One theory says such courts 'jump up' out of nowhere; another links the term to the California gold rush a few years later.

Only two tree-kangaroo species live in Australia. Where do the rest mostly live?

Australia's two are Bennett's, north of the Daintree River, and Lumholtz's, both in far north Queensland.

Tree-kangaroos belong to which genus?

They can drop to the forest floor from 18 metres or more without injury.

In A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh, what is the name of Roo's mother?

Milne created the pair in 1926 for the first Winnie-the-Pooh book.

The original stuffed toy that inspired Roo was lost in the 1930s in what kind of place?

The other original toys survived and are on display at the New York Public Library.

The airline term 'Kangaroo Route' refers to flights between Australia and which country?

When first flown in 1947 the trip needed six stops and took nearly four days.

In 2018 the Kangaroo Route went non-stop for the first time, flying to London from which Australian city?

The Boeing 787 service takes about 17 hours, one of the longest scheduled flights in the world.

The fastest speed ever recorded for a kangaroo, 64 km/h, was set by a female of which species?

Although the red is more famous, the eastern grey is the species Australians most often meet.

The grey kangaroo subspecies endemic to Tasmania is commonly known by what name?

Its scientific name Macropus giganteus means 'gigantic large-foot', even though the red is bigger.

Mature male western grey kangaroos are nicknamed 'stinkers' because of an odour resembling what?

The species ranges across almost all of southern Australia, from Shark Bay to the Murray-Darling basin.

The antilopine kangaroo lives in which part of Australia?

It roams Cape York, the Top End and the Kimberley, and John Gould named it for fur he thought resembled an antelope's.

How many kangaroos appear on the reverse of the Australian one-dollar coin?

Stuart Devlin, who designed Australia's first decimal coins in 1966, drew the design for the coin's 1984 launch.

Which state was the first to legalise kangaroo meat for human consumption, in 1980?

In New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria it could only be sold as pet food until 1993.

Most of Australia's exported kangaroo meat goes to which two countries in particular?

Russia was once a big buyer for luncheon meat but suspended imports in 2009.

The children's TV host Captain Kangaroo got his name from what feature of his costume?

Bob Keeshan played the Captain on CBS from 1955 to 1984, the longest run of any children's show on a commercial network.

In the 1968 series Skippy the Bush Kangaroo, Skippy was a female of which species?

The show was set in the fictional Waratah National Park and was reportedly shown in 128 countries.

How old was Sonny Hammond, the boy who befriended Skippy in Skippy the Bush Kangaroo?

His 16-year-old brother Mark and their father, the park ranger, rounded out the Hammond family.

Kangaroos share a Middle Miocene common ancestor with which family of arboreal marsupials?

That ancestor probably lived in the canopy of the wet forests that then covered Australia, feeding on leaves and stems.