Iconic Kangaroos, wallabies and wallaroos
When people hear the word kangaroo they straight away think of Australia. I was one of them. Before I came to Australia one of the points on my bucket list was to see a mob of kangaroos hopping to the setting sun. It didn’t take me long to put a tick next to it because it’s not hard to spot them.
In fact, statistically speaking there are more than two kangaroos for every person in this country!
Kangaroos are herbivores and eat mainly grasses, they can live up to 23 years and weigh up to 90kg.
Kangaroos are really quick runners – they can run up to 56km/h.
Kangaroos
There are four main species of kangaroos in Australia.
Red Kangaroo – biggest of them (can reach up to 2 meters), I always feel intimidated in their presence. We see them often in the outback Northern Territory and Queensland. They can become aggressive quickly and it’s always good to keep their distance.
Eastern Gray Kangaroo – they stick together, generally, we see them as mobs of ten. Their fur is grey in colour and Eastern Grays aren’t so big as red. We met them many times in Victoria and Tasmania.
Western Gray Kangaroo – another type of kangaroo that lives in groups of 10 or more, maybe because it’s closely related to the eastern grey kangaroo. This kangaroo can’t be found beyond the NSW and South Australia border, and lower parts of WA.
Tree kangaroo – this one is a climber, not a hopper. It lives on trees and it’s the only one from the kangaroo family who can move backward!
Wallaroos
Then we have a wallaroo which is smaller than a kangaroo but bigger than a wallaby. It can get between 75cm to 140 cm tall.
Antilopine Wallaroo – we met them in the top parts of Australia. They have bigger legs and look a little bit different to other kangaroos.
Euro (common wallaroo) – is heavyset with a shorter and thicker tail. Its fur is more shaggy and doesn’t have hair on its muzzle. Common wallaroo can be spotted across Australia, except Tasmania.
Wallabies
Wallabies are the smallest marsupials from the kangaroo family. We often spot them in woodland areas, rather than plains.
There are many types of wallabies in Australia. People distinguish shrub wallabies, brush wallabies, rock wallabies and even swamp wallabies.
Kangaroos, wallaroos and wallabies –
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