A Kick Strong Enough To Open You Like A Can
A kangaroo kick lands with over 700 pounds of force and up to 850 psi of pressure — enough to fracture bone or disembowel, thanks to a long curved claw on each hind foot.
A Kick Strong Enough to Open You Like a Can
A mature red kangaroo can deliver a kick with an estimated force of around 759 pounds — enough, by some estimates, to reach pressures near 850 pounds per square inch at the point of impact. That’s already a serious number. It’s not even the most important part of the story.
The Real Weapon Isn’t the Kick Itself
What makes a kangaroo kick so dangerous isn’t just raw force — it’s what’s attached to the foot delivering it. Each of a kangaroo’s hind feet ends in one long, curved claw, sharp enough to rake and tear through soft tissue rather than just deliver a blunt impact.
Braced on a Tail, Striking With Both Legs
Kangaroos have a unique way of generating this force. Using their thick, muscular tail as a brace, they can lean back and drive both hind legs forward simultaneously in a single, powerful strike — unlike most animals, which kick with one leg at a time. That bracing mechanism is part of why the kangaroo can put so much of its body weight behind a single motion.
Enough to Open Skin Like a Blade
Combine the force with the claw, and the result is a strike capable of opening skin instantly, on top of the blunt trauma from the impact itself. Wildlife accounts describe kicks strong enough to fracture bone or cause severe internal injury — the destructive potential comes as much from the concentrated, clawed point of contact as from the raw pounds of force behind it.
It’s easy to underestimate an animal best known for grazing peacefully and hopping across the outback. But a cornered or threatened kangaroo has a strike built to do real damage — over 700 pounds of force, delivered through a blade-like claw, from an animal that spends most of its day eating grass.
