What would happen if a human was foolish enough to take on a kangaroo? Would the mammal or the marsupial live if the human did not bring any weapons or tools to the fight? We’ll break it down for you, but just for the sake of clarity, do not try to box a kangaroo.
Comparing a Human and a Kangaroo
What Are Key Differences Between a Human and a Kangaroo?
The key differences between humans and kangaroos include their morphology and intelligence. Human beings are highly intelligent bipedal mammals that walk as their primary form of locomotion and stand about 5.77ft tall and weigh upwards of 200lbs on average. However, kangaroos are bipedal marsupials with long tails that weigh up to 200lbs and stand 6.6ft tall, and hop as their primary form of locomotion. These differences aren’t profound, but they help us understand what advantages one creature has over the other. We need to look closer at these animals and examine the factors that would decide the fight.
What Are the Key Factors in a Fight Between a Human and a Kangaroo?
Since humans will not go into the fight armed, we need to look at matters beyond intelligence and tool use. This will be a battle between animals, so we must examine the size, speed, defenses, and other data to figure out which animal will win.
Human vs Kangaroo: Size
The average human and the average kangaroo are very similar in size. The overlap between these animals makes it hard to give either creature the advantage over the other. After all, the average human is between 5.2ft and 5.7ft tall and weighs between 150lbs and 200lbs. Of course, much larger humans exist. Kangaroos can reach 200lbs and over 6ft in height, sizes that humans can attain, too. We’re calling the size comparison a tie between humans and kangaroos.
Human vs Kangaroo: Speed and Movement
Kangaroos are much faster than human beings. The top speed of the average human being is between 12 mph and 20mph. However, the utmost human speed is 27 mph, a speed that one particular human couldn’t hold for more than a few seconds. Kangaroos can move at 12 mph comfortably and reach speeds of 35-44 mph when trying to hurry. Kangaroos have the speed advantage in this fight.
Human vs Kangaroo: Defenses
Humans have a hodge-podge of defenses outside of their intellectual endeavors. Without tools, humans rely on intelligence to avoid situations, endurance to get away from enemies, ingenuity to find shelter, and their size to ward off some attacks. Kangaroos are tall, quick, great swimmers, and have thick skin on some parts of their body, like their stomachs, to prevent attacks. Overall, humans have better defenses than kangaroos stemming from their intellect, but kangaroos have better physical defenses.
Human vs Kangaroo: Offensive Capabilities
Kangaroos can deliver a deadly attack from their legs. No, they don’t kick other animals to death. They disembowel them and rip them open with the long middle claw on their hind legs. Kangaroos will often strike or grapple an enemy and then balance on their tail to deliver a fatal blow. Humans have relatively weak strikes, but they can use their feet, hands, and body weight to attack. In this particular case where we are prohibiting weapons to highlight human frailty, humans don’t have a particularly fatal attack to use in a fight.
Human vs Kangaroo: Predatory Behavior
Humans have several predatory abilities that allow them to trap and kill creatures. Aside from rudimentary ambushes without tools, humans are known for their cursorial hunting. They will use their endurance to track and attack prey once it is too weak to carry on. However, humans require tools to hunt many creatures. Kangaroos are not predators since they are herbivores. However, they have some fighting instincts stemming from their boxing that serves as a competition for access to resources. Humans have better predatory behaviors.
Who Would Win in a Fight Between a Human and a Kangaroo?
A kangaroo would win a fight against a human being. A human being might have a weight advantage or even a height advantage in extreme cases, but a kangaroo has deadly biological tools in the form of its claws that can easily kill humans. Do not be fooled by videos of humans successfully attacking a kangaroo. In the wild, a kangaroo will try to grasp their prey and then tear into it with the claws on its feet. This will inflict devastating wounds on a human being or even disembowel them. Without weapons and armor, humans are fragile to these wild animals. Meanwhile, humans would have to attack the kangaroo’s head. Unless the kangaroo was small or the human was lucky, doing enough damage to the creature to kill it with one’s bare hands would be difficult. Thus, the kangaroo secures the victory in this case.
