Western grey kangaroo

Appearance

The western grey kangaroo is one of the largest kangaroos in Australia. It weighs 28–54 kg and its length is 0.84–1.1m with a 80–100 cm tail, standing approximately 1.3m tall. It exhibits sexual dimorphism with the male up to twice the size of female. It has thick, coarse fur with colour ranging from pale grey to brown; its throat, chest and belly have a paler colour. It feeds at night, mainly on grasses but also on leafy shrubs and low trees. It has a nickname ''stinker'' because mature males have a distinctive curry-like odour.

The kangaroo lives in groups of up to 15. The males compete for females during the breeding season. During these "boxing" contests, they would lock arms and try to push each other over. Usually, only the dominant male in the group mates. The gestation period is 30–31 days, after which, the baby joey attaches to the teat in the pouch for 130–150 days.

Naming

There are two subspecies of the western grey: ''Macropus fuliginosus fuliginosus'' of Kangaroo Island, and ''Macropus fuliginosus melanops'', which has a range of different forms that intergrade clinally from west to east.

The western grey is not found in the tropical north or the fertile south-east of Australia, and the eastern grey does not extend beyond the NSW–South Australia border, but the two species are both common in the Murray–Darling Basin area. They never interbreed in the wild, although it has proved possible to produce hybrids between eastern grey females and western grey males in captivity.

The western grey kangaroo is also referred to as a red-faced kangaroo, mallee kangaroo, sooty kangaroo and carno kangaroo