AnimalsThe red kangaroo is the largest marsupial. It moves by hopping on powerful back legs, using its heavy tail for balance. A newborn is tiny and crawls into its mother's pouch, where it grows for months.
Quick facts
- Scientific name
- Osphranter rufus
- Group
- Mammals
- Diet
- Herbivore (eats plants)
- Lives in
- Australia
- Habitat
- Dry plains and scrub
- A young one is called
- joey
- A group is called
- mob
- Conservation status
- Least Concern
How it is classified
Scientists sort living things into groups within groups. Reading down, each step is a smaller group, ending with the species itself.
- Kingdom Animalia
- Phylum Chordata
- Class Mammalia
- Order Diprotodontia
- Family Macropodidae
- Genus Macropus
- Species Osphranter rufus
More distant relatives in the order Diprotodontia: koala.
Scientists do not always agree on names. The GBIF list files this animal under the name Macropus rufus.
Classification follows the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Other reference works arrange some groups differently. How classification works.
Is it in danger?
The red kangaroo is listed as Least Concern. The species is widespread or numerous enough that it is not considered at risk of extinction at present.
This is the IUCN Red List category as recorded in Wikidata on 11 November 2026. The IUCN Red List itself is the authority and may carry a newer assessment. What the categories mean.