Zoo database

Red kangaroo

Macropus rufus

Natural diet Red kangaroo

Grain / seeds
Grasses
Herbs

Red kangaroos are primarily herbivorous grazers that consume grasses and other plants dependent on the drought level. Next to this, they occasionally browse on plants such as saltbushes. They are very well able to digest fibrous material.

Feeding advice Red kangaroo

Feed quantity per day

2% of body weight

Sample percentage calculation

If an animal weighs 47 kg and eats 2% of its body weight, it will get

47 x 0.02 = 0.94 kg feed in total per day

Feed composition

20% Concentrates
75% Grass, lucerne and other roughages
5% Browse

Proportions (fresh product)

0.2 x 0.94 kg = 188 g concentrates
0.75 x 0.94 kg = 705 g grass, lucerne and other roughages
0.05 x 0.94 kg = 47 g browse

Diet suggestions

Not recommended

Fruits
Sharp or coarse food items (e.g. stalky hay)

Additional advice

Divide the “Feed quantity per day” over at least two feeding moments per day.
Supplement the diet with ad libitum grass (read more about browsers and grazers).
Supply sufficient vitamin E by feeding adequate concentrates.
Feeding sharp or coarse feed might cause oral traumas.
Feeding fruits might lead to abnormal fermentation in the hindgut because of high sugar levels (read more about nutritional values of (wild) fruits and vegetables).
Stimulate foraging behaviour by hiding, stacking or hanging the feed. Besides this, scatter feeding is also advised (read more about feed enrichment and foraging behaviour).

Common diseases

An unbalanced diet may result in one of these more commonly occurring diseases/conditions:

Obesity
Paralysis
Dental disease
Lumpy-jaw
White muscle disease

Feed quantity per day

Sample percentage calculation

Feed composition

Proportions (fresh product)

Kangaroo pellets

Kangaroo

KNZ Mineral-lick Wildlife

Alfamix kangaroo

Sven van Asselt

Warehouse