Kangaroo

Kangaroos bounce across Australia on springy back legs, using their thick tails for balance like a fifth leg. Moms carry their babies — called joeys — in a built-in belly pouch for months while they grow.

Kangaroos live across the grasslands, bush and dry open country of Australia, and nowhere else in the wild. They are the biggest marsupials — mammals that raise their babies in a pouch. A kangaroo's back legs are huge and springy, its front arms are small, and its thick tail is so strong it acts as a fifth leg, propping the animal up and pushing it along when it walks slowly. Those big feet and that tail are also why a kangaroo cannot walk backward.

Kangaroos are grazers, eating grasses and low shrubs, mostly in the cool of the evening and early morning. Hopping looks like hard work, but for a kangaroo it is the opposite: each bounce stores energy in the tendons of its legs like a spring, so it can cruise at 35 mph and cover 25 feet in a single hop without getting tired. In the heat of the day kangaroos rest in the shade and lick their forearms, letting the breeze cool the wet fur.

A newborn joey is about the size of a jellybean. Blind and hairless, it crawls up through its mother's fur into her pouch and stays there for months, drinking milk and growing, before it starts poking its head out and finally hopping alongside her. Kangaroos live in loose groups called mobs, where a big male keeps an eye on the others and rivals settle disputes by boxing and kicking. Kangaroos are listed as least concern — there are millions of them across Australia.

Here is every kangaroo fact from this page and the kangaroo quiz in one list — handy for a school project or a car-ride quiz.

1. Kangaroos can't walk backward — their big feet and tail get in the way.
2. One hop can cover 25 feet, and they can cruise at 35 mph.
3. A newborn joey is about the size of a jellybean.
4. A kangaroo's tail is so strong it works like a fifth leg.
5. A group of kangaroos is called a mob.
6. The kangaroo even appears on Australia's coat of arms because it only moves forward.
7. Kangaroos can even lean on their tails to kick with both back feet.
8. After birth, the tiny joey climbs into the pouch to keep growing.
9. Hopping is so springy that kangaroos barely get tired going fast.
10. Kangaroos are listed as Least Concern, which means they are doing well in the wild.

❓ Common questions about kangaroos

No — kangaroos are wild animals that belong in the wild, and keeping one would be unsafe and almost always illegal. But if kangaroos are your favorite, here's the closest pet you actually can welcome home:

Meet the RabbitBecause no pet hops like a kangaroo, but a rabbit brings the same bouncy, long-eared energy on a pet-sized scale. See care guide →

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