Kangaroo Facts & Worksheets

The kangaroo is a marsupial with large, powerful hind legs, large feet adapted for leaping, a long muscular tail for balance, and a small head. Commonly associated with Australia, they are the unofficial symbol for the country and appear as an emblem on the Australian coat of arms and on some of its currency too.

See the fact file below for more information on the Kangaroo or alternatively, you can download our comprehensive worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.

Facts About Kangaroos

• Kangaroos are from the family Macropodidae.
• The term Macropod means “large foot”.
• Kangaroos are indigenous to Australia and New Guinea, an island north of Australia.
• A Macropod is a kangaroo or one of its relatives.
• Macropod means “large foot”.
• Millions of years ago, all Macropods lived in trees, but most species came down to live on the ground.
• The exception is the Tree Kangaroo, which still lives in the upper branches of trees.
• Tree Kangaroos mainly inhabit tropical rainforests in Queensland and New Guinea. 
• Macropods are distinguished by size.
• The largest is the kangaroo, followed by the wallaroo, then by the wallaby, which is the smallest.
• Kangaroos are mammals which means they give birth to live young and produce milk to feed them.
• Kangaroos are also marsupials.
• Marsupials are sometimes referred to as pouched mammals because the female kangaroo has a pouch in which she rears her young.
• Kangaroos are social animals that live in groups or “mobs”. The mob can sometimes be made up of 100 kangaroos.
• They are often referred to or called roos.
• The kangaroo population in Australia is in excess of 50 million.

Features and Size

• Kangaroos have large, powerful hind legs.
• They move by hopping. 
• They hop on their hind legs and use their tails for balance and for steering.
• They can hop at speeds of up to 40 miles per hour (60 km/h).
• Kangaroos cannot move backward.
• Kangaroos have really small forelimbs, about one 1/3 the length of their legs.
• Their large feet are adapted for leaping.
• The tail is long, muscular, and very strong. 
• Kangaroos’ heads are fairly small.
• Kangaroos have very good eyesight, but only when an object is moving. 
• They also have excellent hearing and the ability to swivel their ears in all directions to pick up sounds.
• Kangaroos are grazing herbivores. They eat grass and leaves. 
• Most kangaroos move about at night seeking food. 
• This makes them nocturnal. 
• Kangaroos need very little water to survive. An adult kangaroo can go for months without drinking anything at all.
• Females have a pouch where the joeys develop and grow.
• A male kangaroo can be as tall as 6 ft 7 in (2 m) and weigh as much as 200 lb (90 kg).
• A male wallaroo will have a weight of 41.8–48.5 lb (19–22 kg) and a female 28.6 lb (13 kg).
• Male wallabies can weigh between 4 – 53 lb (2 – 24 kg).
• The dwarf wallaby only weighs about .75 kg (1.6 kg). 
• Male Tree Kangaroos weigh about 16 lb (7.2 kg) and the females 13 lb (5.9 kg)  
• The lifespan of kangaroos in the wild is about ten years.

Reproduction

• Male kangaroos have several names, including bucks and jacks.
• Females are called does or jills.
• Young kangaroos are joeys.
• A group of kangaroos is a mob or troupe.
• About 33 days after mating, the baby, known as a neonate, will emerge.
• It is only a few centimeters long, hairless, and blind.
• It quickly climbs through the fur on the mother’s abdomen into the pouch.
• Once there, it attaches to one of the teats and starts to feed and grow.
• At about six months, the baby is a well-developed joey and will begin to peep out the pouch and then venture out for short periods.
• Kangaroos can have up to 3 babies in their pouch at any one time. 
• On becoming mature and just venturing out of the pouch, another develops in the pouch, and one embryo is in pause mode. 
• There are four teats in the pouch, and each provides different milk for the different stages of development of each baby.
• Mother kangaroos clean their pouches frequently.
• By eight months old, the joey can leave the pouch permanently and be fully independent, but they often delay this process.
• Male kangaroos can be seen boxing when competing for the attention of a female. The tiny front legs aren’t much of a threat, but the powerful hind legs with their long sharp toenails are a dangerous weapon.

Kangaroo Products

• Kangaroo meat is low in fat and high in protein.
• It has been eaten for thousands of years by indigenous Australians.
• It is now exported and enjoyed around the world.
• Kangaroos are protected by legislation in Australia.
• Strict legislation controls the harvesting of kangaroo meat.
• Harvesting only occurs in approved zones.
• Quotas are set to ensure the sustainability of kangaroo populations. 
• Kangaroos can only be harvested by licensed shooters.
• A strict code of practice ensures high standards of humaneness and food hygiene. 
• Besides the meat, kangaroo skins are used to make many leather products, from small wallets to large jackets.
• Australia exports over 3 million kangaroo skins to Europe and the United States annually. 
• Kangaroo leather is known for its strength and lightness.

Did you know?

• The kangaroo is a symbol of Australia. 
• It features on the Australian coats of arms and on the country’s coins.
• Kangaroo babies, called joeys, are the size of a jellybean when first born.
• When kangaroos fight, they kick, punch and sometimes even bite.
• The three most abundant species of kangaroo are the red kangaroo, which is the largest, the western gray, and the eastern gray.
• There is a species of kangaroo called a rat kangaroo. Rat kangaroos differ from other kangaroos in that they are small (similar in size to a rabbit), have a prehensile tail, live mainly in the undergrowth, and are mostly active at night.

Kangaroo Worksheets

This bundle includes 11 ready-to-use Kangaroo worksheets that are perfect for students to learn about the kangaroo which is a marsupial with large, powerful hind legs, large feet adapted for leaping, a long muscular tail for balance, and a small head.

This download includes the following worksheets:

• Kangaroo Facts
• Color Me!
• Quick Quiz
• Kangaroo Anatomy
• Ancient Kangaroos – Fill It In
• Reading and Comprehension
• Modern Kangaroos – Match Up
• Describing Kangaroos
• Kangaroo Word Search
• Kangaroo Word Creator
• A Fable – The Kangaroos and the Goat

Frequently Asked Questions

Do kangaroos have predators?  

Kangaroos have very few predators. Their main threat comes from humans and dingos.

Are kangaroos dangerous?  

Kangaroos are normally gentle but can be aggressive if provoked. They then become very dangerous.

Are kangaroos fast?  

Kangaroos hop around quickly on two legs or walk around slowly on all four. Kangaroos can move at speeds of nearly 60m/h.

Can kangaroos swim?  

Yes, kangaroos can swim and are good swimmers. 

Can kangaroos jump high?  

The kangaroo’s powerful legs and very large hind feet enable it to jump up to 3m (nearly 10 ft) high and over 9m (29 ft) in length.

Where do kangaroos sleep? 

Kangaroos prefer to sleep in the shade. They lie on their side and rest their heads on their short forearms.

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