Mammals

Mammal – Marsupial, Family Macropodidae
The Greek word macropod means “big-footed”, reflecting how the 40 living members of the kangaroo family have long, muscular hind legs and large feet, enabling their unique hopping motion. Adult Eastern Greys are one of the largest macropods, with males standing up to 1.6m tall and weighing 70kg, while females are smaller at 1.2m tall and weigh 35kg. They are a uniform grey colour and are a distinct species to the Western Grey Kangaroo, which has browner fur and lives in drier areas.

Conservation Status:
In Victoria, Eastern Greys are still common and abundant, occurring in all natural regions in southern and eastern parts of the state, including both the plains and highlands. This large kangaroo has few threats and since European settlement, population numbers for most of the large species of kangaroo have actually increased because farmers have created more pasture and grasslands for them to feed on; put in dams so lessening the impact from drought; and killed or driven away dingoes to protect their livestock, in doing so removing the kangaroo’s main predator. The Mt Rothwell population of Eastern Grey Kangaroos is endemic, as some 65 kangaroos were living in the old-growth woodland when the fence was completed back in December 2000. Testimony to the effectiveness of the 6ft law for fences in Victoria, supposedly to allow these kangaroos to disperse, is the fact that this population has increased dramatically without dispersing and is now seriously compromising Mt Rothwell’s habitat. Mt Rothwell is now actively and urgently persuing non-lethal means of control of this population through an innovative and passive fencing and ejection system, in the hope of promoting the natural dispersal of the population that is currently not occurring.

Habitat, Diet & Breeding:
Due to the Eastern Greys widespread distribution in Victoria, they inhabit grasslands to dry forest and woodlands, even moving out onto farmland as long as it provides the required combination of food source and shelter. Due to differences in habitat quality, population densities of Eastern Grey Kangaroos can vary considerably with 8 to 200 animals found per square kilometre, as well as their home ranges varying from 0.2 to 5km2. This grazing herbivore mainly eats grasses & herbs.

Some female Eastern Grey Kangaroos may start breeding at 18 months of age and mating occurs throughout the year, peaking between September and March so that most births are during summer.  A single offspring is born after a gestation of 30 - 36 days and suckles in the pouch for the next 9 to 10 months, after which it becomes a joey at foot that continues to suckle until weaning and independence at around 18 months of age. Females will not mate again for 6 months after they’ve given birth, so only have 1 young/year. This species of kangaroo lives 15 to 20 years long.

Interesting Facts:
Kangaroos are an iconic Australian species and bound to cause excitement for overseas visitors, particularly when watching them hop along. Kangaroos have one of the most energy efficient forms of locomotion. The stretching muscles and tendons in their big feet provides the recoil spring for the next jump, while their powerful, muscled tail provides balance. As they hop, their stomach mass moves up and down forcing the diaphragm to move air in and out of the lungs, saving more energy. Kangaroos are very suited to Australia’s harsh environment, as they can cover large distances with little expenditure of energy.