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Kangaroos may have a reputation for being cute and cuddly animals, but the males of the species can be pretty intimidating. In fact, if you happen to run into one of these muscly males, you wouldn’t want to pick a fight. Male kangaroos can get big, and depending on the species, they can be as tall as seven feet and weigh as much as 200 pounds. Much of those 200 pounds is pure muscle.
If you check out the video above you will get a chance to see some very buff male kangaroos lounging around a wildlife park in Australia. Kangaroos live in groups with one dominant male, multiple females, and their offspring. But how does a male kangaroo get to be the leader of a group of females? As the video explains, it’s all to do with his biceps.

Male kangaroos need their strength to win over the females.
©J.A. Dunbar/Shutterstock.com
Where Do Kangaroos Live?
Unless you are visiting a zoo, you will only find kangaroos roaming the wild in Australia, Tasmania, and nearby islands. They can live in many different habitats including forests and grasslands. They are very social animals and prefer living with others.
Kangaroos are not classified as endangered, and in some areas can be very plentiful. Though they have few predators, the number one threat to kangaroos comes from humans. Humans hunt kangaroos for their meat and farmers kill them to stop them from eating their crops. They also face loss of habitat.
What’s the Advantage for a Male Kangaroo to Be Muscular?
Strength is important for a male kangaroo. It’s the dominant male of the group that gets to mate with the females. Groups of kangaroos, also known as mobs, are led by one alpha male who may have had a serious battle to earn his position. Mobs can be made of just a few individuals, or over 100.
Male kangaroos start play fighting, or sparring, when they are still juveniles. This helps them build strength and learn how to fight for when it really counts.
Kangaroo fights among adult males can get intense when group hierarchy is on the line. And it takes a strong male to win the fight. However, scientists don’t think that strength is the only reason why males are so muscular. There is another benefit for a male kangaroo to have impressive biceps and a muscular chest. It impresses the females.
Scientists have learned that female kangaroos are attracted to male kangaroos with buff shoulder and arm muscles. The males know this and even strike poses to show off their muscles to the females. Even when lounging in the grass you can spot a male kangaroo lounging in a way that highlights his strong muscles.

The ladies love a bulky male.
©Susan Flashman/Shutterstock.com
How Do Male Kangaroos Bulk Up?
Male kangaroos bulk up the same way humans do, through diet and exercise. Not only do the males gain strength from playful sparring matches, but they also engage in other muscle-building exercises. Watch the video to see as the male kangaroos hop along the ground. To give their arms a workout, they put their forearms down and push off from the ground. They then bring their back legs to the front of their body and repeat, pushing off again with their forearms. This gives their chest, shoulders, and arms a tremendous workout, and they do this every day.
In addition to exercise, the males need plenty of rest to recover. They also need plenty of protein and other nutrients to maintain their muscles. Kangaroos are herbivores, so they can’t get their protein from a big, juicy steak like human bodybuilders might. Instead, they have a specialized ability to obtain protein, sugar, and fat from eating grass and other plants. Like all herbivores, they have enzymes in their gut that allow them to break down the cellulose in grass into all the nutrients that they need.
The big, male kangaroos have to eat a lot of plants to maintain their daily caloric needs. Unlike a carnivore that can get all the protein it needs from eating once a week, kangaroos munch on plants all day long.
How Do Researchers Really Know Female Kangaroos Find Muscular Male Roos More Attractive?
Of course, we can’t ask female kangaroos what they look for in a mate, but researchers do have ways of theorizing an animal’s motivations. A study conducted on western grey kangaroos showed that the male kangaroos that are chosen as mates by the females have forearms that are very large in proportion to the rest of their bodies. Their arms are significantly larger than the female’s forearms. Although we don’t know if the female kangaroos think the males with big arms are more attractive, we do know that the males with the biggest forearms have more opportunities to mate with the females.
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