Sometimes known as the marloo, the Red Kangaroo is the world’s largest living marsupial and the most abundant kangaroo in Australia. Found mainly in regions where rainfall is low and unpredictable, it is generally restricted to the arid zones. When water is available they will drink however if a variety of green grass and herbaceous plants are available, water is not a necessity.

Males are red in colour, have a height of 1.8 metres, weigh more that 90 kg and reach sexual maturity at the age of two. Females may be red or bluish-grey, 1.25 metres in height, weigh ap

1997 studies of the Red Kangaroo in Longreach, Central West QLD, shows that condensed harvesting in this area has endangered the species to the extent the fragile population is reliant upon immigration from surrounding areas to survive.

There are currently 27 known species of Australian mammals known to be extinct, 1 critically and 34 endangered, 51 species vulnerable and 1 that is conservation dependent.

All species of macropod are protected from hunting by state and territory legislation, except for a small number of the large-sized species, which exist in high numbers. The Red kangaroo is one of the species for which commercial harvesting is permitted. Figures for 1980 to 2001 show the number slaughtered under controlled conditions increased from 717,000 to over 2.4 million per annum for the Red Kangaroo alone. These figures do not

Some topics in this essay:
Australia Found, Red Kangaroo, Code Practice, West QLD, Australia Kangaroos, red kangaroo, NSW QLD, Kangaroo Macropus,