Kangaroos are extremely strong animals with a dominant population in Australia. These herbivorous animals can grow really huge and become difficult to subdue.
However, several animals have enough strength and stamina to subdue or ambush them. See kangaroos’ main predators and the animals that love to eat them most.
Kangaroo Predators: What Animals Eat Kangaroos?
Animal predators that eat Kangaroos include foxes, dingoes, wild dogs, humans, wedge-tailed eagles and Tasmanian tigers. A comprehensive list of these predators is given below.
Dingoes
Dingoes are wild canines that hunt kangaroos in packs. They are a major kangaroo predator in Australia and often engage in an all-out chase when hunting. They typically exhaust roos in a chase and pounce on them to kill them. Dingoes hunt both babies and adult kangaroos.
Tasmanian Tigers
Tasmanian tigers were major kangaroo predators during their existence. They could chase and kill both joeys and adult roos.
However, these animals were declared extinct in 1936. They were named the Tasmanian tigers because of the tiger-like stripes on their lower back and their Tasmanian island native origin. Tasmanian tigers are icons in Australia.
Also read: Types of Kangaroos: Overview of The Different Species
Fox
Foxes eat joeys occasionally. These cunning and opportunistic eaters chase young kangaroos to exhaustion before pouncing on them and dealing fatal bites.
Foxes do not typically attack adult roos because they are not easy to subdue and could cause them serious injury in a confrontation.
Wild Dogs
Wild dogs eat kangaroos when they are lucky enough to find one. Hunting as a pack, wild dogs will kill young and adult kangaroos. The strength of numbers makes wild dogs fearsome and vicious kangaroo predators.
Wedge-Tailed Eagles
Wedge-tailed eagles are huge birds of prey with a fearsome streak for preying on other birds and land animals, including kangaroos.
This bird targets young kangaroos or joeys, pouncing on them in a swift attack from the air. Their ability to lift 50% of their body weight makes a joey an easy catch for Australia’s largest bird of prey.
Humans
Humans are the biggest and most dangerous kangaroo predators. Kangaroo meat is enjoyed in Australia particularly. A large number are also exported to neighboring countries for consumption as well.
It is legal to kill and eat kangaroos in Australia as that helps to curtail the population. However, you must have a license to hunt them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do People Eat Kangaroos?
Kangaroos are eaten as meat mostly in Australia following their legalization as viable meat for humans in 1980. Since Australia is their native land, kangaroos face the biggest threat in the country.
Kangaroo meats are also exported to other countries with 4 species legalized for the trade; Eastern grey kangaroo, red kangaroo, common wallaroo and Western grey kangaroo.
Do Dingoes Eat Kangaroos?
Dingoes are major kangaroo predators, hunting both joeys and adults’ roos. Dingoes majorly hunt in packs, and this social aggression always gives them an advantage against prey.
Adult kangaroos will often escape from a pack if they notice the danger early enough. However, a full-blown confrontation between a kangaroo and a pack of dingoes will leave the former dead.
Do Elephants Eat Kangaroos?
Elephants do not eat kangaroos or any kind of meat, for the record. They are herbivorous giants that feed on grasses, tree barks and vegetation.
Kangaroos are safe from elephants’ predation because they are not carnivorous. And in any case, elephants don’t live in Australia.
What Do Kangaroos Eat?
Kangaroos are herbivorous animals that mainly feed on vegetation. Their major food is grass, which is easy to find in their territory. They also eat flower plants, fern leaves, mushrooms and leaves. Roos like their food fresh and actively look for the green vegetation.
