Roger, a buff red kangaroo who lived in an Australian sanctuary but was known across the world for his incredible musculature, died at the age of 12.
Roger was discovered as an orphaned joey, stuck inside his dead mother’s pouch. Fortunately, a man named Chris Barns, found him and decided to take him to a kangaroo sanctuary.
Roger grew up to be the community’s dominant male. And — as the Internet noted in sometimes uncomfortable awe — what an alpha male he was. According to the sanctuary, the kangaroo was 6 feet 7 inches tall and weighed nearly 200 pounds.
Every now and then, images of him would make the rounds on the internet, evoking the same kind of admiration. Muscle-bound. Super-muscled. Massive. Beefcake.
Barns, also known as Brolga, said in one video, “He grew up to be a kangaroo that people from all over the world have grown to love as much as we love him too.” “So we will study his life for many years to come.” Those muscles weren’t only for appearance. Roger was a fierce fighter. Barns, who created The Kangaroo Sanctuary after discovering Roger as a little joey, has the scars to prove it.
Barns, like Roger, stands at 6 feet 7 inches tall and is no shrinking violet. He told to the Traveller website in Australia:
“Chris lifts his shirt to reveal some combat wounds, saying, ‘He’s a huge lad and extremely aggressive.’
“He points to one scar and says, “That’s Roger.” ‘That’s Roger as well.’ On my groin, there are six fresh stitches. ‘They’re Roger,’ he says.
“‘He’s really just a fighter,’ Chris adds. ‘It’s only normal for an alpha man to do so. He enjoys seeing the threat go, so he will always confront you. He won’t let you go if he grabs you. You won’t be able to get out easy. It’s a lockdown. A well-placed kick, on the other hand, may disembowel you.'”
To be clear, Roger isn’t only Australia’s massive kangaroo. Male red kangaroos box to demonstrate dominance, making them the world’s biggest living marsupials. Only the alpha male in the group, known as a mob, mates with the females.
As a result, boxing skills are a valuable talent for a male red kangaroo, and a physique like Roger’s is a possible result.
Roger had been classified as “retired” by the Kangaroo Sanctuary in recent months, referring to the fact that he was no longer the alpha male there.
Last year, his son Monty took over “after a brief kickboxing battle with Roger,” according to the Kangaroo Sanctuary.
You won’t be surprised to find that Monty has an excellent body as well.
