Where the Deer and the Kangaroos Play...

It seems as if kangaroos are Australia's equivalent of deer--at least when it comes to population explosions! From the AP, and courtesy of the Inquirer, comes word that Canberra, the capital of Australia is being overrun with the very symbol that put it on the map--kangaroos.

!7% of drivers in the district report having collided with a kangaroo at least once and kangaroos have broken into people's homes and terrorized their children. Truly it seems as if the large marsupials are running amok. So what's the government to do?

They've tried birth control and relocating them to less populated areas. Now they're proposing a cull (I told you all of this would sound very familiar) and you guessed it, many of those down under are up in arms. How can you shoot those cute cuddly creatures?

Exactly what the Wildlife Protection Association of Australia says, in the personna of Pat O'Brien, president. "It's disgraceful that people want to shoot our national symbol," he comments. "The days when wildlife is managed with a gun should be long passed."

Kangaroo meat, by the way, was once considered only good enough for pet food. What kind of pets dare I ask? Now it is found in European restaurants (might these be the same ones that serve horse meat?) and the hides are used for leather.

The government, giving in to one part of the public protest, has agreed to bury the carcasses if it is permitted to cull the roos. The public has until May 11 to make its voices heard (why do I think we will hear them half way around the world?). After that, my guess is that lots of kangaroos are going to disappear in the middle of the night.