kangaroo death toll

Move over covid-19, we have a new big killer. This Furry Friday we will be discussing the ignored apex predator from down under. Research suggests that the biggest killer in 2020 is the Kangaroo. While this only holds true in Australia, it is frightening to think that this marsupial has killed more people than covid-19. How did such a formidable enemy go under the radar like this? The scary part is, this isn’t new. Kangaroos haven’t randomly started committing murder; they always have been.

How Many People Do Kangaroos Kill A Year?

Research suggests that kangaroos were responsible for nearly 88% of the deaths in Australia in 2020. Most of these deaths were from direct attacks, but some were from car accidents and poisoning the water supply. This is a very high statistic, and definitely the highest out of all animals in the world. This may sound surprising to readers in other parts of the world, but this isn’t shocking at all to Australians. The locals have to fight every day to survive and prevent an untimely death from kangaroos. Nearly every Australian has a friend who was murdered by one of these brutal marsupials.

How Exactly Do Kangaroos Kill People?

Assault deaths come from the aggressive attacks kangaroos deliver to humans. Whether the kangaroo is purposely trespassing on human-owned property, or just looking for a good fight, they are aggressive and have no regard for human life. Kangaroos even kidnap dogs from backyards. Kangaroo don’t even eat dogs, they just fight them for sport. The worst part is that kangaroos are armed and dangerous. They have gnarly claws on the back of their feet. They lean back and intentionally kick in a way that will cause these claws to disemboweled anything they are fighting. Not only are they muscularly powerful, but these claws are guaranteed to instantly kill anything they hit.

The non-direct deaths are almost just as Regarding the car accident deaths, kangaroos are not very good drivers, so they typically crash when they hijack a car (this is surprisingly common in Australia). The water supply poisoning deaths come from a the kangaroo’s nasty habit of dropping poisonous berries down wells. No one knows if this is intentional or not, but it sure seems like it at this point.

So Why Doesn’t This Get Media Attention?

The media ignores the dangers of the kangaroo because it just sounds silly. They jump around and kick, how could that be scary? Sharks get all the bad press despite only killing two humans a year on average. Kangaroos kill thousands of people a year, but it just doesn’t make for good news. A shark is scary. Humans have a rational fear towards sharks, due to them being an absolute apex predator of the sea. Fortunately for humans though, they are incredibly easy to avoid. This nearly makes this fear irrational in theory. Sharks just look scary, and sound scary. Sharks star in several horror films, but there are hardly any scary takes on the kangaroo. Hopefully some day the horrors of the kangaroo are illuminated to the general public.

Did this article blow your mind? Were you surprised to learn how menacing kangaroos are? Let us know in the comments down below.