Information challenge – force of a kangaroo punch

[Tony Smith]

Originally Posted by aj.lec

It would also depend on variety and size of kangaroo you are trying to compare it against
There is almost 60 different species of kangaroo
Red kangaroo being the largest growing to almost 90 kgs and around 6 foot in height
The back legs are very formidable easily opening up a dog or human with one strike with the large centre claw
even the front paws are extremely sharp and can cut fairly easily

Andrew, you are turning this into a Monty Python sketch!:
What's the average flying speed of a Swallow?
African or European?
I don't Knooooowww...

Despite the common perception of "Boxing Kangaroos", their upper body strength is quite weak. The fight by grappling their opponent by the neck with their arms to hold them close, transferring their weight to their tail and kicking with their feet. Even without breaking skin, the force of their legs and rapidity of the strikes are probably on a par with a heavyweight boxer.

[Lang]

My two bobs worth on this stop the presses subject is:

As mentioned, kangaroos do not punch in the wild (I watch them out my back window every morning). As stated they grapple to set up a hind-foot kick almost never seriously injurious to their opponent. This happens daily in the human-like disputes over women or a particularly juicy patch of grass. By far the most common fight is when the two bucks stand chest to chest on tip-toe to gain impressive height and start slapping each other like two patrons in a gay bar dispute. A long fight is two minutes.

Showmen over the years have fitted them with gloves but the strikes are of a flapping/slapping motion never a straight right or a left hook.

I suggest you lay your head on the kitchen scales and have your wife give you a " moderately naughty boy" smack across the ear. The measured deflection of the dial would be a pretty close measurement of the energy of a kangaroo "punch".

Below is photo of a kangaroo mugging my 3 year old grandson and other kids recently.
Lang

[Phil Waterman]

Any size kangaroo.
Using forefeet or hind feet.

The question from a library patron was not that specific so lets assume the worst or hardest hit possible.

If you are wondering this is what librarians talk about after a long hard week after the second glass of wine.