What's the difference between a kangaroo and a wallaby??

When we take people on wildlife tours, we are often asked, "what's the difference between a kangaroo and a wallaby?".

Although the answer given by many would be size (i.e. the kangaroos being bigger than wallabies), the answer isn't always that simple. Let me explain...



A red kangaroo

As a rule of thumb, the word kangaroo is usually used to refer to the larger large-footed hopping marsupials or macropods found in Australia, whereas the word wallaby is used to describe many of the smaller macropods. The word kangaroo can sometimes, and probably incorrectly, be used to describe the whole family of hopping marsupials or macropods - i.e. the kangaroo family (but it does sound better than macropods!). There are about 45 species of kangaroos and wallabies found in Australia, with two species also found in New Guinea.

Kangaroos are larger than wallabies, and wallabies are often more squat or solid - whereas kangaroos are not only larger but also longer and leaner. Kangaroos also have a distinctive black naked rhinarium - you know, the wet part of a dog's nose for example. The largest of the kangaroos is the red kangaroo - large males can weigh up to 80 kilograms. The other large kangaroos are the eastern grey and the western grey kangaroos. However, there are also tree-kangaroos - these are wallaby-sized kangaroos that live in trees, and there are rat-kangaroos which are small rat or guinea-pig sized kangaroos.

         

A young red-necked wallaby



On the other hand, there are numerous species of wallabies - each eeking out a niche in its particular habitat - whether rainforest, grasslands, alpine regions, rocky-cliff faces, etc. Wallabies makes up the majority of the macropod family - in fact, there are about 30 species of wallabies found in Australia - including rock wallabies, swamp wallabies, hare-wallabies and lots of other wallabies! And everybody knows that Australia's mighty rugby side is also called the wallabies (don't they?)!



a common wallaroo



Just to confuse the matter, there are also wallaroos - an animal that has some features of both wallaby and kangaroo. Most wallaroos are medium sized but one of these, the Antilopine wallaroo, grows to almost as large as the red kangaroo! Wallaroos also have a black naked rhinarium like kangaroos and come in all colours - red, grey, brown, black and various combinations and shades of these.

On Wildlife Explorer's Night Wildlife Safari you have the chance of seeing numerous types of wallabies, wallaroos and kangaroos in a single night. We also have the opportunity of seeing the more unusual types of kangaroos - the tree kangaroos or the musky rat-kangaroo for example. Please visit our website at http://www.wildlifeexplorer.com.au/ for more information.

Bye for now...

Images all courtesy of wikipedia.com