In the wild, researchers have found most Matschies’ live alone or in small assemblies, containing maybe a mother and her offspring and one male. Most of the time, the groups have a sex ratio of 1:1. The Matschie's tree-kangaroos are very closely related to "Dendrolagus goodfellowi", the Goodfellow's tree-kangaroo, which was once considered a subspecies of the Matschie's tree-kangaroos. Matschies’ appear to be scared of humans because they scramble around when humans are nearby and they are very difficult to find in the forests. They spend about 14 to 15 hours of their days sleeping and resting. The Matschie's tree-kangaroos are known for defending their home territory and marking their boundaries.