While we see a lot of wildlife in the Megalong Valley and in the Blue Mountains in general, there was one particular kangaroo that caught our attention and our imagination not so long ago.

He was a big old red male kangaroo (boomer as they are often called) and he turned up at Elsewhere Retreat towards the end of his life. He was battle scarred, old and blind. It was kind of fitting that he managed to find a nice quiet sunny spot to see out his days. Large, male red kangaroos can weigh up to 90 kilograms and live up to 6 years in the wild. Interesting the lifespan increases to 20 years in captivity. While they are not particularly territorial, they will fight over females when they are younger.

While he was still a big and majestic figure, it was a little bit sad to see him without a sense of direction and hopping around in circles. While he could still smell and find food and water, the process of getting there was taking a bit longer for him than it previously would have done.

During the days we would see him lying in the full sun absorbing the heat and relaxing. While he was not looking around (for the obvious reason) he was extremely alert as evidenced by his ears and his reaction to sound. Interestingly he was not scared and did not take flight as most kangaroos do when they see humans.

The video shows the “old boomer” early one morning at Elsewhere Retreat hopping around. While he clearly knew we were there, he was not frightened or flustered. We don’t know what happened to him in the end. One of the gates at the back of the property was left open and we think he wandered off into the bush…..