Red Kangaroo (male adult)

Red Kangaroo
Macropus rufus
The red kangaroo is among the largest members of the kangaroo family. Kangaroos are marsupials, a type of mammal that gives birth to undeveloped young that are carried and nurtured in a special pouch on the mother's body. In Australia, the red kangaroo has increased in numbers in response to people. Sheep ranchers favor this largest of the continent's native mammals by converting woodlands to grassland, providing sources of permanent water and fencing out or killing the dingo. Even though it may be persecuted by these same ranchers as a competitor of their livestock, the red kangaroo has benefited overall, and its population stands in the millions.