Where do kangaroos live or their habitat?

Kangaroos are found throughout the Australian continent, as there are over 60 species.

• Eastern Grey kangaroos are found in the eastern half of Queensland, most of New South Wales and Victoria and small areas of South Australia.
• Western Grey kangaroos are also found across the southern regions of Australia from western Victoria and NSW, and south-western Queensland to the mid-latitudes of Western Australia.

  Grey Kangaroos are particularly common along southern coastal Australia and, contrary to what some people believe, seem to enjoy swimming, often commuting between the mainland and offshore islands. .

• The large Red Kangaroo is found throughout the interior of the continent - not the dry desert but in semi-arid desert areas - and on part of the Western Australian coast.
• The habitat of the tree kangaroo is rainforest and dense forest in northern Australia (as well as the islands of New Guinea).

Kangaroos' habitats include grasslands, mulga scrub, bushland (not too dense) and open plains - wherever there is food, and shade trees. Red kangaroos prefer this type of habitat. They will generally not frequent rocky slopes and hillsides, this being more territory for wallabies and wallaroos. However, they will shelter under cliffs and in caves in bad weather.

Some members of the kangaroo family can be very small, and these smaller members dig burrows in desert and semi-arid areas, living on insects, larvae, fungi and plant roots. Larger kangaroos, such as the reds and greys, do not live in the desert (despite what some overseas websites report) because there is insufficient food there.

Wallabies, another member of the kangaroo family, are commonly found in scrubland and bushland throughout Australia (including Tasmania), and rock wallabies and wallaroos may be found in hilly, rocky areas. Wallabies have been introduced to New Zealand, but any sightings there have been of kangaroos remain unconfirmed. Some zoos in other countries have licences to have kangaroos in captivity.