Western Grey Kangaroo (Macropus Fuliginosis) cover photo - 8524374

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The Western Grey Kangaroo (Macropus fuliginosis or alternately Macropus fuliginosus) is a large and common macropod, found across almost the entire southern part of Australia, from just south of Shark Bay to coastal South Australia, western Victoria, and the entire Murray-Darling Basin in New South Wales and Queensland. The Western Grey Kangaroo is one of the largest kangaroos. 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 greyish-brown to chocolate-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. Long known to the Aboriginal people of Australia, for Europeans, the Western Grey was the centre of a great deal of sometimes comical taxonomic confusion for almost 200 years.