Taxonomic Name: Osphranter rufus

Conservation Status: Least Concern (IUCN Red List)

Wild Range: Scrubland, grasslands, and deserts in western and central Australia.

Diet: Grasses make up 75-95% of their diet

Longevity in the wild: 12–18 years

Size: 1.5 m tall

Weight: Females 18–40 kg, males 55–90 kg

Fun Fact: Like other marsupials (pouch-bearing mammals), red kangaroos are only a few centimeters long when they are born. After birth, the young joey crawls into the mother’s pouch and spends the next 190 days developing inside the pouch.

APZ Location: Animals of Asia

Conservation Story: Kangaroos are the focus of a research project that studies their DNA. The researchers aim to learn more about the evolution of breeding traits that are unique to marsupials, such as embryonic diapause.

Meet Our New Joey: One of our kangaroos, Xena, gave birth to a beautiful joey at the start of 2025, but the joey first emerged from her pouch earlier this July! They have been growing, developing hair, and starting to explore the world around them for the past six months. Soon, they will start to exit and enter the pouch at will, growing in strength and confidence while still having the pouch to come back to.

During this time, we do not interfere with the joey’s development, as it’s essential for their growth. Since the joey hasn’t left Xena’s pouch yet, we don’t know their sex yet! What we do know is Xena is calm and comfortable with her joey, and the joey is very curious and quite big. (The joey needs to bend in half to fit properly in her pouch fully!)

Keep your eyes peeled, and hopefully, we’ll see the little one out and bouncing around soon!