Animal
Eastern grey kangaroo
The eastern grey kangaroo hops on big, strong back legs. A mother carries her baby, called a joey, in a pouch on her tummy.
The eastern grey kangaroo is a big, woolly gray kangaroo of eastern Australia and Tasmania. It hops on powerful back legs, balances with its long tail and grazes on grass in groups called mobs. Its joey is born weighing less than a gram and grows up in its mother's pouch.
Macropus giganteus is a grazing macropod of eastern Australia and Tasmania, from the coast to the inland plains wherever annual rainfall exceeds about 250 millimeters. Elastic leg tendons make its hopping efficient, and a female holds the species' recorded speed of 64 kilometers per hour. The IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
Photo: JJ Harrison (https://www.jjharrison.com.au/), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Meet the eastern grey kangaroo
The eastern grey kangaroo is a big kangaroo.
It has soft gray fur and long ears. It hops on its big back legs. Mother kangaroos carry their babies in a pouch.
The eastern grey kangaroo is a marsupial, a mammal whose babies grow up in a pouch. It belongs to a group called the macropods, the kangaroo family. It has soft, woolly, light gray fur and a long tail with a dark tip.
Males are much bigger than females. A big male can have a body about 1.3 meters long, plus a tail of up to 1 meter, and weigh up to about 90 kilograms. Females weigh up to about 40.
Macropus giganteus is a marsupial in the family Macropodidae. The Australian Museum describes light gray, woolly fur, darker on the face, and a dark tail tip, while the Animal Diversity Web calls the face almost white, unlike the darker face of the western grey kangaroo. The Animal Diversity Web also notes that coastal animals tend to be paler than inland ones and that Tasmanian and southern Queensland animals have longer fur.
Sexual dimorphism is marked: males can reach a head-and-body length of 1.3 meters with a tail to 1 meter, against 1 meter and 0.84 meters for females, and males may weigh two to three times as much as an average female, up to about 90 kilograms against about 40.
Quick facts
- Group
- Mammal
- Length
- up to 1.3 m
- Weight
- up to 90 kg
- Top speed
- up to 64 km/h
- Lifespan in the wild
- 7 to 10 years
Where it lives
Eastern grey kangaroos live in Australia.
They live in the east, and on the island of Tasmania. They like grassy places near trees and bushes.
Eastern grey kangaroos live across most of eastern Australia, from Cape York in the far north of Queensland to the south-east of South Australia, and on the island of Tasmania. They live from the coast to the inland plains, wherever more than about 250 millimeters of rain falls in a year, and from sea level up into the mountains.
They live in forests, woodlands, scrub and farmland with patches of trees, and they tend to favor thicker scrub and forest.
The IUCN describes the species as endemic to eastern mainland Australia and Tasmania, ranging from Cape York Peninsula to south-eastern South Australia and from sea level to subalpine areas; it was introduced to Maria Island off Tasmania, and the subspecies M. g. tasmaniensis is restricted to eastern Tasmania. The Australian Museum notes an almost continuous distribution between the inland plains and the coast where annual rainfall exceeds 250 millimeters.
Habitats include sclerophyll forest, woodland, mallee scrub, shrubland and heathland, as well as agricultural land and introduced grassland. Mainland populations have expanded with the spread of artificial water points built for cattle.
Continent
Its habitats
Where can you find this animal?
- Lives here naturally · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
- Sightings recorded · Records of wild sightings (GBIF)
Lives here naturally · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
Eastern mainland Australia, from Cape York Peninsula to south-eastern South Australia, and eastern Tasmania; introduced to Maria Island. Not in the arid west or center.
Places: Australia.
Source: iucn-red-list · checked October 2026
Sightings recorded · Records of wild sightings (GBIF)
Counts of GBIF records of wild observations (human and machine) and preserved specimens. Records include introduced populations, vagrants, escaped or released animals and misidentifications, so a country with records is not necessarily part of the native range.
Wild sightings have been recorded in Australia, Germany, United States, Belgium, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and 1 more places.
Source: gbif · checked October 2026
Range maps show where scientists say an animal lives, often country by country. An animal may live in only part of a country shown, and sightings records can include animals that wandered far from home.
What it eats
Eastern grey kangaroos eat grass.
They like fresh, green shoots best. They eat in the evening and at night, when it is cool.
Eastern grey kangaroos are herbivores, which means they eat plants. They are mostly grazers: they eat grass, and they especially like young green shoots, which are full of protein. Dry grass is hard for them to digest. They also nibble other plants, and sometimes even fungi.
Kangaroos rest in the shade during the hottest part of the day. From late afternoon until early morning, mobs move out into open grassy areas to feed where food is plentiful.
The species is a predominantly grazing herbivore with specific preferences: grasses, especially young green shoots high in protein, along with a range of other plants and occasionally fungi. The Australian Museum notes that dry grass is difficult for it to digest.
Feeding is concentrated from late afternoon to early morning, avoiding the hottest part of the day, when kangaroos rest in shade. The IUCN describes the species as nocturnal and gregarious, with large mobs gathering wherever food is abundant. Because grazing kangaroos have soft feet rather than hooves, the Australian Museum notes they are easier on erosion-prone land than cattle.
Built for hopping
A kangaroo's back legs are big and strong.
It hops with both feet together. Its long tail helps it balance. When it moves slowly, the tail works like an extra leg.
A kangaroo's back legs and feet are much bigger than its front legs. The tendons in its legs work like stretchy springs, so the faster it hops, the less energy it uses. A single hop can cover about 9 meters, and the fastest eastern grey ever recorded, a female, reached 64 kilometers per hour.
The long, muscular tail helps the kangaroo balance while hopping. When it moves slowly, it leans on its tail and front paws and swings its back legs forward, using the tail like a fifth leg.
The hind limbs and hind feet are far larger and more powerful than the forelimbs. The Australian Museum compares the leg tendons to sprung ropes that propel the animal at speed with little effort, and the Animal Diversity Web notes that the energy cost falls as speed rises; hops cover about 9 meters, and the record speed is 64 kilometers per hour, set by a female.
The muscular tail serves for balance during hopping and as a fifth limb in slow movement. Eastern greys communicate with clucking sounds, and aggressive males and alarmed animals of either sex give a guttural cough.
Life in the pouch
A newborn joey is very, very tiny.
It crawls into its mother's pouch and drinks milk there. It grows and grows. Then it hops out to explore!
A baby kangaroo is called a joey. It is born just 36 days after mating, weighing less than 1 gram. All by itself it climbs into its mother's pouch and fastens onto a teat.
The joey grows inside the pouch for months. At about 9 months it starts to leave the pouch, but it still pokes its head back in for milk. It becomes independent at about 18 months.
Gestation is about 36 days (Wikidata's value is 36.4). The newborn weighs under a gram, about 0.8 grams, climbs unaided into the pouch and attaches to one of four teats. The Australian Museum gives pouch emergence at about 9 months and independence at about 18 months; the Animal Diversity Web gives about 11 months in the pouch and about 9 more months of suckling. Kangaroo milk changes in composition as the joey's needs change.
The sources differ on timing: the Australian Museum says breeding is continuous through the year with a summer peak, while the Animal Diversity Web calls the species a seasonal breeder in spring and early summer. Like most kangaroos, the species shows embryonic diapause, pausing an embryo's development. Research in southern Queensland found that about half of young joeys do not survive to independence. Wild lifespan is about 7 to 10 years.
Life in a mob
Kangaroos live in groups called mobs.
They rest together in the shade. They talk with soft clucking sounds. If they are scared, they make a coughing sound.
Eastern grey kangaroos live in groups called mobs, often of 10 or more, within a home range of up to about 5 kilometers. During the day the mob rests in the shade of trees and bushes. From late afternoon to early morning it moves into the open to graze.
Kangaroos keep in touch with soft clucking sounds. An alarmed kangaroo gives a deep, rough cough, which warns others. Mothers whose joeys have started leaving the pouch usually keep away from large groups.
The Australian Museum describes mobs of 10 or more in home ranges of up to 5 kilometers; the Animal Diversity Web describes a typical small mob as one dominant male, two or three females with young and two or three young males. Large mobs gather where food is abundant.
Males spar to establish dominance, and the dominant male is most likely to mate. Females with semi-independent young tend to avoid large groups, a behavior thought to reduce the risk of predation. Communication includes clucks and the guttural alarm cough, and the daily rhythm is rest in shade by day and grazing from dusk to dawn.
Did you know?
A mother kangaroo's milk changes as her joey grows.
A mother kangaroo makes different milk when her joey is inside the pouch and when it starts going outside.
Milk composition shifts with the joey's nutritional needs as it moves from full-time to part-time pouch life.
Kangaroos and people
There are lots of eastern grey kangaroos.
Laws protect them. Many live in national parks. Some live close to towns and farms.
The eastern grey kangaroo is not endangered. It is widespread and common, lives in many protected areas, and is protected by law in every Australian state and territory.
Indigenous peoples have hunted kangaroos for food and skins for thousands of years. Today eastern greys are one of four abundant kangaroo species that licensed hunters may harvest under government rules. In Tasmania, the local kind is affected by land being cleared for farming.
The IUCN lists Macropus giganteus as Least Concern (assessed 2015), citing its wide distribution, large population, presence in many protected areas and lack of major threats. It is protected by national legislation, and the Australian Museum notes it is one of four abundant species that licensed hunters may harvest commercially for export, none of them threatened.
Animals may also be shot under license where they damage crops, pasture or fences. The Tasmanian subspecies, estimated at 10,000 to 20,000 animals in a 1996 study cited by the IUCN, is threatened by habitat loss to agricultural clearing.
IUCN Red List
How is the eastern grey kangaroo doing in the wild?
- Least Concern (this animal)
- Near Threatened
- Vulnerable
- Endangered
- Critically Endangered
- Extinct in the Wild
- Extinct
Least Concern
Not at risk of disappearing from the wild right now.
See the IUCN Red List assessment · The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022.2
Amazing facts
-
A newborn joey weighs less than 1 gram.
A newborn eastern grey joey weighs less than 1 gram, yet it climbs into the pouch all by itself.
The neonate, about 0.8 grams, climbs unaided into the pouch and attaches to a teat.
-
Kangaroos can use their tail like an extra leg.
When moving slowly, a kangaroo leans on its tail and front paws, using the tail like a fifth leg.
The muscular tail acts as a fifth limb during slow movement and as a counterbalance in hopping.
-
Kangaroo legs work like springs.
The tendons in a kangaroo's legs stretch and spring back, so it can hop fast without using much energy.
Elastic energy storage in the leg tendons means energy cost falls as hopping speed rises.
-
A mother kangaroo's milk changes as her joey grows.
A mother kangaroo makes different milk when her joey is inside the pouch and when it starts going outside.
Milk composition shifts with the joey's nutritional needs as it moves from full-time to part-time pouch life.
Words to know
- marsupial
- a mammal whose babies grow up in a pouch, like a kangaroo
- macropod
- a member of the kangaroo family
- joey
- a baby kangaroo
- mob
- a group of kangaroos
- grazer
- an animal that eats mostly grass
- tendon
- a strong, stretchy cord that joins a muscle to a bone
Discovery challenge
-
How big is a newborn joey?
How much does a newborn eastern grey kangaroo joey weigh?
What is the approximate mass of a newborn eastern grey kangaroo?
- Less than 1 gram
- About 5 kilograms
- About 40 kilograms
Show the answer
Less than 1 gram
A newborn joey is tiny, less than 1 gram!
It weighs less than 1 gram and finishes growing in the pouch.
About 0.8 grams, after a gestation of about 36 days.
-
What does a kangaroo use its tail for?
What jobs does a kangaroo's tail do?
Which roles does the kangaroo's tail play in movement?
- Balancing, and as a fifth leg
- Swimming
- Digging burrows
Show the answer
Balancing, and as a fifth leg
The tail helps it balance and works like an extra leg.
It balances the kangaroo while hopping and works like a fifth leg when it moves slowly.
Counterbalance during hopping and a fifth limb in slow movement.
-
What do eastern grey kangaroos eat?
What do eastern grey kangaroos mostly eat?
Which food dominates the eastern grey kangaroo's diet?
- Grass
- Fish
- Insects
Show the answer
Grass
They eat grass, especially fresh green shoots.
They are grazers that prefer young green grass shoots.
Grasses, especially young protein-rich shoots; dry grass is hard to digest.
-
When do kangaroos come out to eat?
When do eastern grey kangaroos usually graze?
What is the eastern grey kangaroo's usual daily feeding pattern?
- From late afternoon to early morning
- Only in the hottest part of the day
- Only in winter
Show the answer
From late afternoon to early morning
They eat when it is cool, in the evening and at night.
They rest in shade by day and graze from late afternoon to early morning.
Diurnal rest in shade, with grazing from late afternoon to early morning.
Places where you might see it
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For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Explain what a marsupial is and how a joey grows in the pouch.
- Describe how a kangaroo's legs, tendons and tail work in hopping.
- Describe what eastern grey kangaroos eat and when they feed.
- Locate eastern Australia and Tasmania on a map.
Recommended ages: 3 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Why might it help a kangaroo to rest in the shade and feed when it is cooler?
- What do you think a joey has to learn before it leaves its mother?
- How is a rubber band like a kangaroo's tendon?
Try at home or in class
- Mark 9 meters outside with chalk or string to see how far one kangaroo hop can go, then count how many of your jumps it takes.
- Weigh a paper clip on a kitchen scale, then remember that a newborn joey weighs less than 1 gram.
Key vocabulary: marsupial, macropod, joey, mob, grazer, tendon
Where these facts come from
- The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN terms of use (no redistribution of Red List data or range maps))
- GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and GBIF Occurrence Search , Global Biodiversity Information Facility (CC0 1.0 (backbone); occurrence counts are facts derived from records under CC0, CC BY and CC BY-NC)
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- Macropus giganteus (Eastern Grey Kangaroo), global assessment , IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
- Eastern Grey Kangaroo , Australian Museum
- Macropus giganteus (eastern grey kangaroo) , Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file: Public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA only (credited on each page))
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated October 28, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.