Kangaroo Newsletter Archives, Kangamail1

KANGAMAIL 19/7/04,

Media Bytes re Googong Dam Kangaroo Kill. A wildlife protection group, backed by Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin and French animal-rights activist Brigitte Bardot, is preparing to blockade a large-scale cull of kangaroos on the Googong Foreshores. The president of the Queensland-based Wildlife Protection Association of Australia, Pat O'Brien, said the blockade would be organised "almost immediately" if the ACT Government did not call off the cull today.

Executive director of Environment ACT Dr Maxine Cooper said last night she was "happy to talk over any concerns" with the group and to assure them that "the welfare of the animals was absolutely of concern".

Yesterday, Dr Cooper issued a statement announcing a cull of kangaroos would be undertaken at Googong Foreshores to protect the Googong water catchment. "As a result of prolonged drought, the kangaroos at Googong have reduced the ground-cover to a level which presents a serious threat to the quality of water entering Googong," the statement said.

A spokesman for Environment ACT confirmed that 800 kangaroos would be culled over the next fortnight and shooting had begun on Sunday night. The cull is being carried out by professional shooters under a permit issued by the NSW Government. *

On Friday, two protestors, Pat OBrien, President of the Wildlife Protection Association of Australia, and Kurt Seidimier, a local resident and former Greenpeace Action Group member, attempted to walk down to the Dam to view the erosion. Both were arrested, and later released without charges.*

The stand-off between the ACT Government and animal welfare activists over the cull of 800 Eastern Grey kangaroos at Googong Dam showed no sign of waning yesterday as protesters braved sub-zero temperatures in an effort to stop the shootings.

A spokesman for Environment ACT said the cull, which began last Sunday night but was postponed during the week, had resumed - yet he refused to say whether there had been any shootings on Friday night. "We are not commenting on what nights the shootings are taking place," the spokesman said.

"We are not going to give away tactics that would stop this [the cull]." But protesters camped at the main entrance of Googong Dam, outside Queanbeyan, yesterday morning said they had not heard any gunshots overnight.

They said that between four and six animal welfare activists were roaming in the reserve in a bid to disrupt the shooting. A spokesman for Environment ACT would not say whether the shooters would try to resume their cull last night, given the presence of the protesters.

With the temperature dropping to around -5 degrees Celsius on Friday night, there was little activity around the entrance to the reserve until 5.30am yesterday when a member of Animal Liberation ACT drove her car through the main gates.

The gates, usually locked with ACT Rangers restricting access, had been left open by a contractor from the Googong water treatment plant who arrived at work around 5am. The Queanbeyan woman, who did not want to identify herself, "planted" three protesters in the reserve before using her car to block the main entrance and prevent any other vehicles from entering.

Contractors arriving around 6am waited for several minutes but when the woman refused to move, the project manager called NSW Police. Mistaking the headlights of the contractors' cars at the entrance to the reserve for those of a shooter's vehicle, the woman ignored the police request to leave the area.

It wasn't until a second police car arrived and blocked in her car that she eventually agreed to leave. "I was there to stop the shooters going in, I didn't really want to stop the workers going in," the woman, who returned an hour later, said. The spokesman for Environment ACT said part of the culling program was to ensure there were no people in the area during shootings.

The reserve was checked by representatives from Environment ACT but he refused to say how many people had been employed to scope the area. One protester said he had been in the reserve overnight and knew of others still there.

"A lot of people know we are in there and if they [shooters] want to shoot while we are in there they are pretty stupid," he said. About 150 kangaroos had been killed since the cull started, and Environment ACT said the aim was still to have 800 roos destroyed by the end of July. *

We are in the process of building a web site specifically for this issue, which will have full details of the campaign. The web site URL will be widely distributed as soon as the site is up, perhaps as early as tomorrow. * www.kangarooslaughter.com

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Roo shooters taking part in the first commercial cull in eastern New South Wales say they've found kangaroos weighing up to 90 kilos. The State Government has permitted a cull of 44,000 kangaroos, and this year is the first of a four-year trial of commercial harvest in the southeast.

Monaro shooter Marty Stanford says he's filling a chiller a night with up to 60 large bucks from a region that's never been commercially culled before. "Roos seem to be twice, three times the sizes that they get out west at the moment.

Some of them are weighed in here at about 60 kilos, so when they've live, the liveweight'd be sort of 80, 85, 90 kilos possibly in some cases and the skins too is another big thing; they're the best skins they've ever received from up here as you can imagine with the cold and things.

Most of them go - they're exported to Italy; they're one-piece skins, eight or nine feet long; so [we're] quite impressed!" Meanwhile there's a protest nearby today at Queanbeyan, over the cull of 800 kangaroos at the region's largest dam. The roos are being blamed for fouling the waterway. ***Canberra Times

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KANGAMAIL 12/7/04

URGENT

Animal Liberation ACT has found out today that the ACT Government wants over 800 kangaroos to be shot at Googong Dam (a main water supply for the Canberra area). Chief Minister, Jon Stanhope, claims the water supply at Googong is at risk of being contaminated by the large number of kangaroos gathering there. NSW National Parks and Wildlife provided permits for the shooting to take place as Googong is in NSW.

The shooting at Googong, a nature reserve, started last night. At least a third of the kangaroos will have joeys who will also be killed either by being decapitated or having their head bashed against the shooters truck (these methods are approved by the Code of Practice). The shooting will be a cruel and gruesome blood bath.

The ACT Government conducted NO community consultation before deciding to shoot the animals. They also did not attempt any other methods of trying to prevent the animals from using the dam.

The dead animals will be used by the commercial kangaroo industry - to be sold as meat, pet food or used for leather. This will be the first time the commercial kangaroo industry has 'harvested' animals from this region. The industry has be trying to open its operations up in the region and this appears to be the first sign they have succeeded. *Canberra Times

PLEASE STOP THE SHOOTING ! CALL & EMAIL JON STANHOPE NOW!

PHONE: (02)6205 0104 EMAIL: stanhope@act.gov.au

NSW National Parks issued the Permit PLEASE STOP THE SHOOTING ! EMAIL MINISTER BOB DEBUS NOW!

bob.debus@debus.minister.nsw.gov.au

Ask them to:

* stop the shooting because it is very cruelty, especially for the joeys;

* try humane methods to prevent the animals using the dam water, such as fencing and supplying an alternative water source for the animals; and

* not allow the commercial kangaroo industry to use the dead kangaroos for commercial profit. By doing this they increase the demand for kangaroo products and the industry gets a foot hold into the ACT/South NSW region. *

NB: If you live in the NSW/ACT area, please write a short letter of protest to your local newspaper.

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Kangaroo Kills Dog

Be warned: that cuddly-looking grey marsupial innocently nibbling on your lawn is not as friendly as it appears. Eastern Grey kangaroos moving closer into Canberra's suburbs in search of feed may pose a threat to humans and their pets as a result of changes in the wild animals' customary patterns of behaviour.

The senior wildlife ecologist with Environment ACT, Murray Evans, issued a warning yesterday that as the mobs of kangaroos hungry for feed in the drought moved closer to the city, they might not be as easy to move off the greener grass found on sportsgrounds and even back yards.

A woman was savaged by a large kangaroo in a Pialligo paddock last week and another woman has told how one of her dogs was drowned by a kangaroo in a pond in a public area frequented by owners exercising their dogs.

"Most of this behavioural change is driven by a scarcity of feed," Dr Evans said. "What we're seeing is that because there's no green grass out in the bushland reserves where these kangaroos normally live and feed, they're heading closer in."

Feeding patterns were changing, too. Kangaroos and wallabies customarily fed mostly at night. The reduction in available grass in their usual haunts meant they now tended to travel in search of feed during the day And when they found a lush patch of grass, the bigger males - which could weigh up to 80kg - were more likely to stand their ground than flee.

"People out walking their dogs are more vulnerable in these situations," Dr Evans said. "If the dog bails up a large buck kangaroo or gets between a female and its young, then it is quite likely to be attacked. And depending on the size of the roo, the dog is almost certainly going to come off second best."

He well understood how kangaroos in dams would use their powerful hind legs to push down dogs until they drowned. "Kangaroos are strong swimmers, so they will head into water to escape a threat from a dog," he said. "If the dog goes into the water after it, that's when the kangaroo regains the advantage."

He also warned that children should not attempt to get close to or attempt to hand-feed kangaroos. "Hand-feeding is a complete no-no; they might look cuddly but it should always be remembered that kangaroos are wild animals," he said. "If a kangaroo is threatened, its defence posture is to stand fully upright and look directly right at the threat; sometimes they will always spread their front legs out.

"Sometimes they will do their posturing, adopt a weightlifter position as though they are flexing their muscles and sometimes snort. "That's a sign they are saying, 'Don't come near me, you are getting a bit too close for my comfort.' People, particularly children, might misinterpret that posture and think the animal is being friendly. But rest assured, it isn't."

His general advice was to keep your distance from kangaroos and while Canberra's dry conditions persisted, for people to always walk their dogs on a lead.

"What can happen if you get really close to a kangaroo is that it can scratch or kick or even take a few steps towards you," Dr Evans said. "You might be five or 10m away and the roo decides that's it and comes bounding towards you.

"Eastern Grey kangaroos have been recorded up to 80 kilos. They have very mean claws and a pretty strong kick." *Canberra Times

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An advertising campaign, partially sponsored by the government, warns motorists of the heightened kangaroo road hazard, with 90 to 160 kangaroos killed on Canberra streets each month, government spokesman David Miles said Thursday. *Canberra Times

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Kangamail 30/6/04

An escaped pet kangaroo kept German police in pursuit for several hours before its owner managed to catch it with a giant net. Germany's stormy weather wreaked havoc of a different sort in the western town of Limburg, after a thunderstorm knocked out the electric lock on Kippy the kangaroo's cage, setting the marsupial on the loose.

Kippy roamed the German countryside for some 24 hours before passers-by spotted him near a motorway and alerted police. The kangaroo led police across meadows and country lanes for four hours before it was captured. Kippy survived the adventure intact, thanks in part to the high fences lining the motorway where he was spotted. The fences stopped him from running towards the speeding cars, an instinct that results in the death of many kangaroos in their native Australia. DW-World *

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Did you know that the young joey first emerges from the pouch usually by falling out. The mother's muscles control pouch size and opening, and when she is alarmed, the pouch is pulled tight against her body so that the joey cannot emerge. She can relax the pouch and let the joey fall out, and she can also contract the pouch and tip the joey out.

Most growth and development occurs in the latter half of pouch life. In the euro and wallaroos and in red kangaroos the young is continuously attached to the nipple until 120-130 days, during which it is pink and naked with its eyes closed for most of the time. Red kangaroo young start taking their look at the outside world at around 5 months, while eastern greys take theirs at around 6 months. *NKPC

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AB2915, the bill that would have made the sale of kangaroos and kangaroo body parts legal in California, failed in the Senate Natural Resources Committee today! The testimony of Viva!USA's Campaigns Director, Lauren Ornelas, helped convince members of the committee that the bill could not help but play a part in the endangerment of Australia's kangaroos.

In the end, despite heavy lobbying from Adidas and the bill's author, the clear lack of oversight on the part of the Australian government, and the clear evidence of cruelty and abuse on the part of those involved in the slaughter, caused the Committee to vote for the animals. Thanks to everyone who called, wrote, and campaigned for the kangaroos!

Some readers will know that this campaign against the sale of wildlife body parts in California has been one of the most difficult campaigns. The opposition includes the Australian government and transnational multibillion dollar corporation Adidas. In California, Adidas has strongly lobbied to rescind the law prohibiting the sale of kangaroos and kangaroo body parts that has been in effect since the 1970s.

No less than three bills have been introduced into the California legislature over the past year attempting to remove the protections for kangaroos. The Australian government sent over the scientist who counts the kangaroos, and the Australian Trade Commission also sent over a specialist to help sell the Bill to the Committee. At taxpayers expense of course! In spite of the heavy lobbying by Industry, the Bill was rejected again.

So far, Viva!USA and the kangaroos are winning! If you would like to make a donation to help VIVA!USA, their web site is at

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Forestry companies have shot nearly 50,000 wallabies and possums to protect forests and plantations over the past two years, Department of Primary Industries documents show. Shooters employed by Gunns Ltd and Forestry Tasmania shot 15,225 brushtail possums and 30,226 Bennetts and red wallabies in the period between January 2002 and April 30 this year. The figures, from the Nature Conservation Branch, were obtained by The Mercury Newspaper under the Freedom of Information Act.

Sixteen fallow deer were also shot during the same period. Eighty per cent of the animals were shot on behalf of Gunns Ltd on 250,000ha of forest and plantation across the state. Most animals were killed with shotguns and spotlight, with live trapping and shooting also widespread. Wilderness Society campaign co-ordinator Geoff Law said the figures demonstrated one of the massive impacts of industrial forestry.

"This shows that a vast number of animals, which are otherwise protected, are being killed," he said. Mr Law said the figures were a "reality check" and an indication that probably more than 500,000 animals were killed by 1080.

Increased shooting has resulted because the State Government wants 1080 usage reduced. "The reduction is mainly attributed to the implementation by both Forestry Tasmania and private forestry companies of more intensive shooting programs," a department report said. "Browsers are being controlled by the use of professional shooters on more coupes prior to initial seedling establishment as well as being used more often after 1080 poison programs."

Usage of 1080 has fallen from 15.15kg in 1999-2000 to about 6kg this year. "The use of 1080 poison is not currently warranted due to the effectiveness of the current control program," a wildlife management plan relating to 26,000ha of bush in the Bronte Park and Interlaken areas says. The detailed figures have only recently become available through the introduction of harvest logbooks.

The figures' release coincides with a Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association call for the Government to manage game numbers in farming and forestry areas. "The problem is the Government and community are actually making things worse for farmers," chief executive officer Greg Bradfield said. "Many of the problem animals live in native vegetation on and adjoining farms and the Government and community are increasingly insisting that these bush areas must be retained." Mr Bradfield said a well-resourced game management agency was needed. *Mercury.

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Ed. Comment; We all abhor the Canadian harp seal killing, but in reality the various Australian State and Federal governments are no better. What is happening in Tasmania is happening in every other State too. The same red-necked attitudes to wildlife that made the Tasmanian Tiger extinct are still entrenched within government departments in every State.

Complete bureaucracies have been established within government, with staff, high budgets, chains of command, and career opportunities, all based around wiping out our wildlife, as quickly, quietly, and as ruthlessly as possible. * NKPC

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We understand that a discussion paper on the Review of the Kangaroo Code of Practice will be released for public comment within the next couple of months. It will be tabled on the Environment Australia Website, (probably well hidden so few people will see it, because it will be nothing they can be proud of) but we will inform everyone when it is available for public comment. *NKPC

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If you would like to receive Wildlife Bytes, which is a weekly review of wildlife issues from Wildlife Protection Association of Australia, please send an email to info@wildlifeprotectaust.org.au with “subscribe Wildlife Bytes” in the subject line.

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Kangaroo Info

The word kangaroo means "I don't know" in at least one Aboriginal dialect. The story goes that when the first modern Europeans arrived in Australia, they saw a large hopping animal and asked one of the natives what it was called. "Kangaroo [I don't know]," he responded. * NKPC

******************************************** In Queensland alone, over a period of 40 years prior to 1917, some two million dollars were paid in bounties and government subsidies for 26 million kangaroo scalps. Until the 1950’s, only the skins of kangaroos were taken. When myxomatosis reduced the rabbit population, pet food processors turned to kangaroo meat. This was the beginning of the kangaroo Industry as we now know it.

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There are 49 or so species of kangaroos, 30 have suffered significant declines in populations, or distribution. 6 are extinct, and an additional four are extinct on the mainland, but survive on a few islands.

The Toolache wallaby lived in small area of South Australia and Victoria. It slept by day in cover of light forest, and emerged at night to graze. While abundant at the time of European settlement, the Toolache was hunted to extinction by 1920. *

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Kangamail 16/6/04

For those who didn’t watch ABC’s Enough Rope last Monday night, Andrew Denton interviewed Antonio Banderas and at the end of the interview presented him with a kangaroo scrotum skin coin purse. For those who would like to complain to the producer, (lots of us have!) the details are: Ms J Wright, Enough Rope, ABC Channel 2 GPO Box 9994, Sydney NSW 2000 j.wright@enoughrope.com.au

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Australia has a reputation for being a country where the Fosters flows, the barbie burns and everyone calls you "mate." The N.C. Zoo wants to show people the flip side of the Land Down Under.

Last month, the Ashboro zoo opened the Australian Walkabout, a two-acre exhibit that gives visitors a glimpse into a country where animals, plants and culture have thrived despite an often harsh and unforgiving landscape.

The exhibit is the first display of Australian wildlife in the 30-year history of the zoo. It will be open until 2006. Why Australia? Credit the kangaroos.

When it comes to drawing visitors, kangaroos are right up there with penguins and polar bears, said the public-relations manager at the zoo. "In people's minds, they are big, warm fuzzies," he said. "People love certain animals, and kangaroos are on the list."

With attendance slipping and state funding getting tighter by the year, the zoo staff began looking at ways to attract more people without spending a lot of money. The last major project was in 1996 when the zoo opened the 200-acre North America region. That project cost $32 million and took 10 years to complete.

Since then, the zoo has renovated a few areas, most noticeably the aviary in 2000. But it has not introduced a new continent. (Africa is the other continent on display.)

Zoos across the country struggle to find ways to keep their displays interesting in tight budgetary times, he said. "The public wants to know, 'What do you have new?' It's a constant battle we face,". Bringing in some kangaroos seemed a sensible choice. They are relatively easy to acquire on loan from other zoos; they are not dangerous like lions and polar bears; the zoo had space to accommodate them and other animals and plants from Australia; and they are unique to Australia.

The kangaroos were acquired on loan from the Detroit Zoo. They were born and raised in captivity, which explains their gentle nature. They eat grass and other vegetation and get most of their water from the green plants they eat. * Winston-Salem Journal *

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Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine, already trying to unravel cattle’s genetic code, are adding the job of sequencing the genome of the tammar wallaby, a small member of the kangaroo family.

Officials of the National Institutes of Health were scheduled to announce the Baylor project Tuesday in partnership with the Brisbane-based Australian Genome Research Facility to sequence the wallaby, which is found on islands along Australia’s southern and western coasts.

“This scientific collaboration between the United States and Australia represents another important step in our quest to gain a better understanding of the human genome,” Francis Collins, director of the genome project, told the Houston Chronicle in Tuesday’s editions. “It is increasingly clear that one of the best tools for identifying crucial elements in the human genome is to compare it with the genomes of a wide variety of other animals.”

Marsupials, which bear their young at an extremely early stage of development and shelter them through the formative months inside a protective pouch, provide unique insights into reproduction and breeding. Tammar wallaby females breed once a year, delivering their young on or about the same day each year. They then mate again within an hour of delivery.

Marsupials last shared a common ancestor with humans about 130 million years ago, providing a unique point on the evolutionary timeline for comparative studies involving other mammals.

Scientists say sequencing species at all stages on the evolutionary tree is important to provide data that allows them to make more precise alignments with the human genome sequence. The $7 million project is funded by the State Government of Victoria in Australia and the NIH in the United States. * NKPC

******************************************** Lady Ainslie is a badly injured injured grey kangaroo, who had a great success story. Her carer reports; to all of you who have been following our lady's progress - she is continuing to improve, there were some heart stopping moments when she was 'knuckling' over on one foot which could have indicated tendon damage.

However, days passed (nervously on my part), she continued to struggle to stand, began to stand for a little longer each day and finally on Saturday stood for the longest period yet - it was only for 5 minutes but a major step forward considering what she's been through

She continues to amaze me - I took some very choice grass into her on Saturday and she moved over and actually rested her paws on my arm for balance while she took the food from my hand. These moments are becoming rarer now as she becomes stronger and more confident - the wildness is returning rapidly and I see her before my eyes becoming what she was with great joy.

One foot has completely healed, she took her own bandages off on Friday and I've left them off. The other foot which was so badly injured is healing rapidly - the wound which was 7 inches along the foot has now shrunk to 5.5inchs.

Healing now is rapid - I am conscious that she needs the best of food as wounds heal better if the patient is well nourished. We have been blessed with the recent rains which have brought on some green grass for her. My thanks to those who have properties in our beautiful valley who have offered grass for her.

Special thanks to Maureen for picking grass with me in the pouring rain last Friday! It's great to share coffee with your mates but it's real mates who will stand in the freezing rain to help you.

In the meantime, our lady's living quarters have been expanded to allow her more room to move. The mattress she is on has been great as it has actually enabled her to get some gentle exercise whilst she has been standing.

Within the next couple of weeks I will move her into her second stage - her new shed is ready, and it has plenty of room for her to move around in. It is very protected and dry and has a small enclosure surrounding it where she can continue to build up her strength in readiness to return home to her family. In the meantime, her wound needs to be dressed and changed weekly and once this has closed over, we can consider moving her into her new quarters. It's been a long journey for this lady and I - but finally, I am beginning to feel that we will get through it - she and I, together.

The best news is she is now free and living where she belongs. She allows me to sit quietly from a distance and just be with her but won't allow anyone else anywhere near her, her wildness is acute. It is the most magic thing to sit quietly and see her there on the slope of her favourite hill.

Quietly grazing or as this last Sunday morning, lying there in the sun, warming up after a cold night, or standing up with her ears pricked to hear an unfamiliar sound. The greatest joy is to see her jump so freely over a fence. Life is good for this Lady who had such a long journey and I am privileged to have shared it with her. From Denise, a wildlife carer. *

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Scientists in Australia are investigating whether kangaroos could help combat global warming. Australia's sheep and cattle produce huge amounts of methane, an important greenhouse gas - but kangaroos do not.

Researchers believe it might be possible to use bacteria found in the stomachs of kangaroos to reduce methane output from cows and sheep. Methane emissions from farm animals account for about 15% of Australia's greenhouse gas production. Yet kangaroos, feeding on the same sorts of grass, produce no methane at all. *ABC

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A kangaroo lived in a big enclosure at a Zoo with lots of his mates. He was a bit adventurous and each night would hop around the Zoo talking to the other animals. One morning the zoo keeper arrived early and spotted the kangaroo out of his enclosure. He immediately added a foot of netting on top of the fence so the kangaroo couldn’t get out again.

Next morning he came in early again, and the kangaroo was out. This time he added two foot to the top of the fence. Next morning same thing, kangaroo out, so he added another two foot.

The giraffe asked the kangaroo how high did he think they would build the fence. “Oh I don’t know,” the kangaroo said, “perhaps another 10 feet I suppose, unless they remember to lock the gate at night”. *NKPC

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The kangaroo is believed to be the only animal in the world that can produced two grades of milk simultaneously, one for the in-pouch joey, and one for the still dependent ex-pouch joey. *NKPC

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The Western Australian Department of Agriculture is looking at ways to secure more kangaroo meat for wild dog baits. A severe shortage of meat has left the department able to secure only half the 130-tonnes of kangaroo meat it needs this year. The Department's Wild Dog project manager Ron Payne says an increase in human consumption of kangaroo is largely to blame for the short supply.

"Roughly 1,200 tonnes of kangaroo meat went out of Western Australia last year, which is a significant amount of kangaroo meat. "We've also looked at the alternatives now of getting beef or camel, which is still suitable to make the baits; but in the past, we've always used kangaroo, and probably stipulated kangaroo, because it does skin up into a such a good dry bait." *ABC.

Ed Note; Assuming 10 kgs of meat per animal that’s about 13,000 kangaroos killed just to poison wild dogs and dingoes.

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For those who remember the trouble UK animal protection group VIVA! had over kangaroo meat with the dictatorial UK Standards authority, this story reminds us that they are still out there.

Zealous trading standards officials in Shropshire and Swindon are taking the Tesco supermarket chain to court after labels were discovered in the fruit and vegetable department that claimed the foods could help prevent cancer. Trading standards claim the labels flout UK laws that govern health claims for products and foods. The law is clear enough: no claim of health benefits can be made for any food or supplement unless it has been scientifically proven.

The trouble for our trading standards boys is there is a stack of evidence to suggest that fresh fruits and vegetables can help prevent cancer. It's also part of the government's health advice to the nation, so it will be interesting to see how the same government can uphold an action that attacks its own policy.

Not that facts trouble the trading standards folk overmuch. Many groups and organisations have on many occasions fallen foul both of the trading standards authorities and the Advertising Standards Association (ASA).

One is in trouble over claims made in leaflets about short-comings in the medical establishment. One health reform organisation been asked to supply evidence to support their claims, which they've done by the truck-load. There's never a hearing, they don't know who decides on the case, but every time they lose without recourse to appeal.

They are then asked to remove the offending paragraphs, and the verdict is posted on the ASA website. Thanks to the ASA, medicine can sleep undisturbed in its collective beds once again. *NKPC

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A dead wallaby has been discovered on a remote Scottish island, locals said, sparking somewhat of a mystery given that the most exotic fauna is usually sheep. The body of the small marsupial was found on a main road near the airport on Islay, a ruggedly beautiful but very sparsely populated island, one of the Hebrides, off the western coast of Scotland.

Police and environmental health officials examined the small animal before it was buried. "We think it is a wallaby. It had a broken leg and looked as if it had been hit by a car," said a spokesman for the airport, which mainly serves the tourist trade. "We get 20,000 passengers a year but we have never had any wallabies," the spokesman said, adding: "It's a bit of mystery really."

Wallabies do roam wild in Scotland but only on the mainland, confusing visitors to Loch Lomond, just east of Islay, ever since a small colony was introduced to the area several years ago and began breeding furiously.

"They are strong swimmers but it would be stretching the imagination for one to swim from Loch Lomond to Islay," the spokesman said, adding that the animal could have been run over on the mainland and dumped on Islay as a prank. * Network Item

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This has got nothing to do with kangaroos, but everyone who uses email will be interested. Google has announced that their soon-to-be- launched "Gmail" service will offer users 1 gigabyte of email storage, Yahoo! announced an upgrade of their free email service to allow users 100MB of free email storage along with other enhancements.

Microsoft's Hotmail will surely also announce a free upgrade in email storage space. On the surface it might just appear like a simple case of one-upmanship, but it actually represents major forces digging in online and preparing to do battle with each other.

When people go online, they spend the single biggest chunk of their time sending, receiving, and reading email. Online email providers understand that eyeballs on a page looking at advertising and responding to offers is what makes them money.

By increasing loyalty among email users in order to repeatedly draw them back to the same website (often several times a day), email service providers like Yahoo!, Hotmail and Google can keep people looking at revenue generating ads.

Hotmail will enter the fray with expanded storage capacity as well as the promise of less spam and a more "friendly" interface to make your email life even easier. Yahoo! and Hotmail will most likely copy Google and start serving context sensitive advertising based on the content of each email message as it get viewed.

Privacy advocates will weigh in to claim that all of the filtering and serving of ads based on an email message's content violates our rights to privacy and heralds the arrival of "Big Brother." But all this jockeying for position and enticing users from one email service to another actually represents a great boon for the average Internet user...

It will force three of the Web's biggest players to wake up and improve their services after 2 or 3 years of "business as usual" and everyone can all expect a few valuable innovations to result from it all. *Network Item

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On 2nd August we go back to the Sydney AAT with our appeal over the Queensland, South Australia and West Australia kangaroo management plans. We will have another 4 or 5 days of hearings, then the AAT will retire to consider a verdict. The verdict will be handed down some weeks after the Appeal hearings have finished.

We are confident of a good result. Even if we can’t summarily stop the kill, we have raised many issues that will be difficult for the government to resolve. We would not for a minute suggest that the kill should be allowed to continue, but if it does, it should be humane, transparent, and within the framework of the law. Currently it is none of those things. *NKPC

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The Federal government recently approved an “exceptional circumstances” permit to kill wallabies for export on Flinders Island in Bass Straight. Because of low markets, the Tasmanian Government had allowed the previous plan, which expired in December last year, to lapse.

Then when they thought there was a market in China to replace dog and cat fur on garments sold in Australia, they perceived an opportunity to exploit this market with wallaby skins. The permit lasts for 6 months, and allows for an unknown number of wallabies to be killed. This extension to the plan is not tabled on the Environment Australia web page.

It is also probably illegal, because on the surface it appears the Minister can just extend the life of a macropod management plan whenever it suits. Hardly in the spirit of the EPBC Act. It may also explain why Environment Australia wanted a long adjournment in the AAT Appeal, so they could issue an extended Permit on a Management Plan that was developed and approved under Legislation that became irrelevant when the EPBC Act became law in 1999. *NKPC

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Kangamail 11/5/04

THOUSANDS of native animals from wombats to wedge-tailed eagles have been killed under licence from the Victorian Government. The Department of Sustainability and Environment issued about 2600 wildlife control authorities in 2003, mostly to deal with animals that were jeopardising farming.

Kangaroos were the most heavily culled species, with 157 licences granted last year to shoot the marsupials. So far this year, wildlife control permits have been issued for kangaroos, common wombats, wallabies, emus, cormorants and a wide variety of native birds. DSE's manager of flora and fauna utilisation, George Grossek, said the drought had caused a spike in requests for control permits as wild animals moved towards farmland for scarce food and water.

"It's fair to say last year and certainly 2002 there would have been more authorities to control wildlife issued," he said. Mr Grossek said killing was a last resort used only after other non-lethal methods had been exhausted. "Not all the authorities issued are for destruction, they can be to trap and release, to scare -- a variety of things," he said.

"Destruction is a method of last resort." Among the animals legally killed this year were a pair of wedge-tailed eagles, which were shot after preying on a wallaby research colony. "Basically we exhausted all opportunities in that particular case to try to alleviate the problem by using non-lethal weapons . . . this is an exceptional case," Mr Grossek said. Animal rights activists have attacked the DSE for being too willing to issue permits, especially for kangaroo culls.

Animal Active spokeswoman Rheya Linden said the drought was being used as an excuse to kill thousands of kangaroos. * Herald Sun

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Kangamail 10/5/04

A RESOURCE worth up to $1 million a year in overseas exports is being left to rot while a wallaby management plan for Tasmania awaits approval. Lenah Game Meats owner John Kelly said wallaby skins and wallaby meat could be a million-dollar export market. Speaking from Hong Kong yesterday, he said he had fur buyers wanting as many as 60,000 wallaby skins, which he could not supply.

Without a Federal Government approved statewide management plan, overseas export is not permitted. "That means there's probably 100,000 skins just being thrown into offal pits," he said. Mr Kelly said his firm and pet meat producers had no choice but to discard the resource. He said his Flinders Island-based business had a licence for 4000 skins because the island had a management plan, and he had special dispensation to export a small number overseas.

But the international fur market would not wait forever for Tasmanian wallaby, and would lose interest quickly if the state could not meet demand. Mr Kelly said wallaby fur was favoured for fur-lined jacket collars and cuffs. "The winter fur is quite long. Obviously it's no mink fur, but it's long and soft enough to be used in that way," he said. Wallaby skin is not sought after as a leather product, because of the damage the animals suffer on fences.

Mr Kelly said getting export approval would also allow wallaby meat export for human consumption, and a niche market existed. "We've very deliberately marketed our products as wallaby, not kangaroo. It is an entirely different product," he said. Mr Kelly said while the management plan negotiations were progressing, it needed to be resolved quickly.

One of the main problems is how wallaby populations are calculated. Tasmania traditionally uses a trend-based population assessment, while the Federal Environment Department demands a more accurate estimation. Another sticking point is understood to relate to what minimum power firearms should be used in wallaby harvesting, with the federal department wanting higher powered rifles to ensure humane kills. * Mercury

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Our readers may remember this item which appeared in Kangamail a month or so ago. Researchers may have found another reason why the world should be putting kangaroo on the menu. In laboratory research to help rats fend off many diseases, including obesity, heart disease, diabetes and cancer, kangaroo meat has been found to be rich in a healthy fat.

The research shows that, in addition to being a very lean, high-protein meat, kangaroo may be the best source of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), a polyunsaturated fatty acid found in lower quantities in dairy products, beef and lamb. The discovery was made by Clare Engelke, an animal biology student at the University of Western Australia, who has been studying CLA in animals.

The fat is made in the stomach and tissues of ruminant animals - those using gut bacteria to break down food. "I was looking for bacteria that forms CLA in lambs," Ms Engelke said yesterday. When she looked at western grey kangaroos, which also ferment food in their foregut but are not true ruminants, she found five times more CLA than in lamb.

Why was not clear, Ms Engelke said. She has been collaborating with the CSIRO division of livestock industries and the University of Adelaide. Unidentified bacteria in kangaroos could be responsible, as could an enzyme in their tissue. The next step would be to identify the source, which could possibly be transferred to conventional livestock to boost their production of the healthy fats.

Ms Engelke said tests on rats showed CLA was an anti-carcinogen that could boost the immune system. It also might have anti-diabetes properties and help limit plaque in arteries. *

And the following comment, How to get drainpipe thin..........

What a relief researchers have discovered that a roo meat diet will keep rats slim and disease-free ("Eats roos and leaves the fat behind", Herald April 27). Surely the last thing anyone wants is a fat, unhealthy rat. Mary, April 27.

Now we have another relevant comment about this.

This research was sponsored by the CSIRO and claims that the meat-fat of the Western Grey kangaroo was discovered in some circumstances (their words) to have up to 5 times higher CLA content than Australian pastoral lamb which is considered to be a relatively high source of CLA.

The article outlines the potential health benefits of CLA in reducing obesity and high blood pressure and its potential anti-cancer and anti-diabetes properties. The article fails to mention that all these diseases are related to a poor diet in the first place - one too high in saturated fat (often red meat), junk foods and simple sugars.

A vegetarian diet or one based on a high percentage of fresh vegetables and fruit would have avoided these diseases in the first place!! I have looked up some web sites on CLA and there seems to be a thriving industry pushing CLA supplements. It also appears that you have to eat a huge amount of the food containing CLA if you are to have any impact - hence the supplement business.

It seems that most grass-fed animals produce CLA (as opposed to animals such as pigs, chooks and other poor creatures that are confined to sheds and fed grains). *

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IMPORTANT NOTICE For a whole range of reasons, including legal reasons, we have to ask all "Kangamail" subscribers to re-subscribe. Worldwide, all email newsletters are going thru this process. The re-subscribe box is on the National Kangaroo Protection Coalition web site at

http://www.kangaroo-protection-coalition.org

It will only take a few minutes, just scroll down the web page to the subscribe box at the bottom of the page. Type in your name and email address and click. We are sorry to have to ask you to do this, but new worldwide antispam legislation requires it. As a bonus, Kangamail is going through an evolution.

It is turning into a more overarching ezine, with more stories and articles relating to kangaroos, not just only kangaroo campaign news. Many of our readers are overseas, and often what makes sense to us here in Australia, doesn’t always make sense overseas.

Each issue of Kangamail will be archived on the NKPC Website. Please re-subscribe as soon as possible, Kangamail in its present form will only continue for another week or so, and please forward this email to anyone who may wish to subscribe. The URL is

http://www.kangaroo-protection-coalition.org

Thanks, Pat

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Kangamail 28/5/04

BILL AB2915 Passed Just as Australia is reporting the devastation the drought is having on kangaroo populations, California has removed the protections for them in that State. AB2915 (the bad bill for the kangaroos) passed the Assembly yesterday. It is now legal to sell wildlife products in California, the only US State that had previously banned the sale of such products.

Lauren Cornelius from VIVA!US had done a huge amount of work to try to stop the Bill from being passed. Thanks Lauren, we really appreciate what you have done. It's not easy to win battles against politicians and their selfserving bureaucrats. They have all the resources of Government, and we have peanuts to fight with, and only the help and support of those in the community who care enough to provide what assistance they can.

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Kangamail 18/4/04

VIVA! MEDIA RELEASE 18 May 2004;

David Beckham Gets His Kicks Out of Kangaroo Slaughter

In a scathing letter to David Beckham, international campaign group Viva! has strongly criticised the soccer star for encouraging the largest massacre of wildlife on the planet by continuing to promote kangaroo skin football boots. Despite providing detailed information on the barbarity of the massacre, including shocking video footage, Beckham has refused to even acknowledge the international campaign and has continued to add to his personal fortune by signing a new deal with soccer boot manufacturers, Adidas.

This year in Australia, 4.4 million adult kangaroos will be commercially shot for the meat and leather industries. Baby ‘joeys’ - useless by products of this barbaric industry - are dragged from their dead mothers’ pouches and killed by being stamped on, bludgeoned with iron pipes or decapitated.

Beckham - the world’s highest earning footballer - has signed a deal with Adidas to extend his contract with them until 2008. He recently unveiled a new personal logo for the firm and has enthusiastically promoted the new Predator Pulse football boot, which is made from kangaroo skin. Any boost in sales will accelerate the bloodshed in Australia - and may even lead to the extinction of the country’s national symbol.

A severe drought has led to a collapse in numbers and a report leaked to the Australian press reveals that the Government now admits that the annual cull is unsustainable. There are no longer enough kangaroos to satisfy the demands of the killing industry.

“Does David Beckham really need money so badly that he’s prepared to endorse the world’s biggest wildlife massacre?” says Viva! campaigner, Justin Kerswell. “A combination of drought and commercial greed is in danger of showing Australia’s national symbol a red card - likely extinction.

Beckham happily accepts Australian government assurances that everything is fine and continues to kick the world’s wildlife when it’s down. I wonder if he knows that those responsible for advising the Government are entirely funded by the kangaroo industry. It’s like giving Esso responsibility for the Kyoto Agreement”.

******************************************** Kangamail 8/5/04

Hi everyone, Below is a report featured in Saturdays Australian, and below that our response. They may print it, they may not, both Murdoch and Packer own huge pastoral properties, and they have never yet run a positive story about kangaroos, although this story makes it clear there is problem. Note that they use "pollitically correct" burospeak, a kangaroo shooter is called a "field processor".

Twenty-five years of commercial hunting across the South Australian savannah and Peter Absalom can't recall a drought killing off kangaroos as it has in the past 12 months. "Everybody is feeling the pain," Absalom says. "In a drought nothing survives ... the poor things." Absalom is a "field processor" who works around Mulyungarie Station, north of Broken Hill.

He culls roos under the annual quota set down by National Parks and Wildlife after aerial surveys of the kangaroo population inside a "commercial zone". His kills help service a regulated $200 million industry, which is a by-product of a government-mandated kangaroo cull in South Australia, Western Australia, NSW and Queensland. For consumers, this is presented as a range of products including kangaroo fillets, steaks, a range of marinated steaks, kebabs, mini roasts, sausages, burgers and mince.

Absalom's anecdotal account of the drought's impact is confirmed by Stuart Cairns, a University of New England zoologist and population ecologist, who has just returned from Mulyungarie and says the density in the area has fallen from more than 50 kangaroos per square kilometre to about 15 per square kilometre. "Its knocked them for a six, ," Dr Cairns says of the drought's impact on the kangaroo population.

"In NSW, numbers are probably down by 50 per cent. I do my work in South Australia and numbers are down there by a third and I think they will go down again." Robert Kemp, a field processor based in Broken Hill, says shooters target an average weight of about 21kg for each kangaroo killed, earning 60c a kilogram.

Only two years ago target kangaroos were in the 40kg weight range. "If I have got big numbers everywhere, then I shoot five or six nights a week," he says. "But when your numbers are down like they are at the moment, you only shoot three to four nights and you only shoot 50 a night rather than up around 80 or 100." Kangaroo carcasses move from the field processor's ute to a chiller then to specialist kangaroo meat processors.

Adelaide-based Macro Meats is one of the country's largest processors, and supplies to the nation's supermarkets and to export markets in Europe. Managing director Rita Niemirowski says her company has been forced to search for kangaroo meat interstate, particularly in Queensland where the roo population is not badly affected by drought. *Australian

Letters to the Editor, The Australian Newspaper, May 8, 2004

Dear sir,

Your article in Saturdays’ Australian about kangaroo numbers collapsing should send alarm bells ringing, but you failed to mention that the SA Government has set no minimum size for kangaroos to be killed. Some processing plants accept kangaroos with weights as low as 15 kg, when even 20kg is barely breeding age. Of all the kangaroos going to processing plants in SA, 51% are females, so even if they were old enough to breed, there would be very little recruitment.

Those that are old enough to breed carry joeys, which are also killed, and these joeys are the future of the kangaroo species. The reason so many small kangaroos are being killed is because the Industry has shot out the biggest animals. In NSW they have also this year opened up 5 new commercial shooting areas north of Canberra, for the same reasons, the larger animals have been shot out in the Western shooting districts.

In SA the Government also shoots kangaroos in National Parks, so there are no refuge areas. The killing programs have destroyed the natural selection process, and the very foundation of the kangaroo social structure. We know that with any wild animal, if we disrupt the normal natural reproduction processes that have evolved over thousand of years, we are in serious danger of putting that species at risk. We have done it before.

What is also interesting in your article, but not unexpected, is that the shooters and the Industry blame only the drought for population crashes, when in fact they are largely responsible themselves. In Canada the fishermen blame the seals, when they alone devastated the fish stocks. We have said it before and we say it again, if we don’t stop killing our kangaroos we will lose them.

Dublin Radio, when we were being interviewed by them a few days ago, informed us that kangaroo, croc, bison, ostrich, emu are being offered for sale in some Irish supermarkets. We (WPAA) actually have members in Ireland, where, like the UK, many people love, admire, and respect our kangaroos.*NKPC

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Kangamail 7th May 2004 Kangaroo Media

ABC Broken Hill rang us Tuesday arfternoon and informed us the kangaroo counts had just finished in South Australia and the counts were way down again. Someone must have leaked that info to them. We did a long interview that went to air Wednesday Morning. We believe they ran bits of it several times through the day.

Australian Associated Press picked it up and ran a wire story. From there my phone never stopped ringing on Wednesday. We did radio interviews with 2UE, 2GB, Radio National News and several other radio stations including ABC Gold Coast, Kalgoolie and several others.

Because it was a wire story, it would have been picked up by some rural and regional newspapers. However the main newspapers never picked the story up, because the people who own the big newspapers, Murdoch and Packer, also own large cattle and sheep stations. Who said the mainstream media is unbiased?

We did get a good story in the South African Independent Newspaper. (see below) We also did an interview with the BCC on Thursday morning. Some of the interesting things that resulted from all the interviews was that one radio station questioned the fact that red kangaroos were in trouble, quoting the RSPCA as supporting the Industry. We responded by commenting that the RSPCA is a domestic animal organisation and had no expertise or knowledge of wildlife matters.

Another radio station in WA went on the attack, implying that because I came from Qld, what would I know about WA? After we sorted that out, the interviewer went on to comment that Rosemary Stanton, who is a cook apparently, and writes books about it, supports the Industry by saying kangaroo meat is environmentally friendly, and healthy to eat, ect.

After we sorted that out, she didn’t want to talk any more, and we finished the interview early. Overall we got some good media about the kangaroos, finally, and almost all interviewers were supportive.

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Kangaroos may be tied down forever, mate Sydney - Australia's iconic kangaroos are being decimated by hunting and drought and the largest of the species could be extinct within 10 years, wildlife activists warned on Wednesday. The Wildlife Protection Association said Red Kangaroos, the world's largest living marsupials, are in greatest danger as a result of aggressive culling programmes.

"I think 10 years is going to see the Red Kangaroos out, unless we stop killing them right now," said association president Pat O'Brien. "There are no ifs, there are no buts - it will happen." "We have got figures showing they are being killed far quicker than what they can reproduce," he said. 'The big mobs are gone forever, we will never see them again'

"The problem is that we are not even going to know about it until they are gone - they live in the remote areas, they are getting smaller and smaller because the genetically strong animals are being taken out, and the gene pool will just get weaker and weaker and weaker," he said.

Australia's department of environment and heritage sets an annual commercial kangaroo cull quota which last year was put at 6,55 million animals.

Government estimates dating to 1999 put the population of the three main groups, the red, eastern grey and western grey kangaroos, at about 30 million.In addition to the cull, kangaroo populations have been suffering the affects of a severe drought that has parched large sections of central and eastern Australia for the past two to three years.

Kangaroo meat processors have complained the populations are already down dramatically in South Australia and New South Wales because of the combined effects of culling and drought. 'They are being killed far quicker than what they can reproduce' Red Kangaroos, also called Giant Red Kangaroos, are the largest of the species growing to about 1,6m and weighing up to 90kg. Like other kangaroos the reds live in small groups of about 10 animals, known as mobs.

O'Brien warned that while Red Kangaroos were the most endangered, Grey Kangaroo populations were "getting a hammering too". "The big mobs are gone forever, we will never see them again because we have managed to poison them, shoot them, destroy their habitat," he said.

"What we predict will happen is in the next 20 years or perhaps even sooner, we will find the only grey kangaroos left are those that are in small family groups - we will just have genetically impoverished family groups." A recent survey by the University of New South Wales showed that kangaroos were the second most recognisable tourist icon in the world, behind the US Statue of Liberty, O'Brien said. - Sapa-AFP (South African newspaper.)

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Hot off the press, so to speak, we hear a strong rumour that the Post Office is looking at putting Lulu the Kangaroo on a postage stamp. That will be an interesting option for the post Office. They will be able to display Lulu stamps next to the kangaroo skin coin purses and wallets that they sell. NKPC

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Kangamail, 1/5/04

A one-eyed kangaroo named Lulu, who made headlines last year after seeking help for a farmer felled by a tree stump, is to be honoured by the RSPCA with the National Animal Valor Award. In August 2003, Lulu raised alarm to an unconscious emu farmer Len Richards, 52, from Tanjil South, near Moe, Victoria knocked out by a falling branch as he was cutting up a storm damaged tree. Lulu got the attention of the Mr Richards' wife Lynn by repeatedly ramming the door of the house. The man was then flown to the Alfred hospital with head injuries.

At the time, Rural Ambulance Victoria paramedic Eddie Wright praised the efforts of Lulu saying that the kangaroo had saved Mr Richards' life. "It's blind in one eye and has hung around the property for the past 10 years, basically since it was a baby." "When the kangaroo has gone up to the house and knocked against their glass sliding door, not once but twice, they thought it was strange. But then the roo came back a third time . . . throwing its whole self against the back door," Mr Wright said.

The family adopted Lulu as a joey 10 years ago when they found her in the pouch of her mother, who had been killed by a car. According to Lulu's website

http://www.luluthekangaroo.com.au

the presentation by the RSPCA will take place in May.

Lulu the kangaroo will leap into the record books when she becomes the first marsupial to receive a bravery award. She'll receive the RSPCA's Australian Animal Valour Award for saving the life of a farmer knocked unconscious. Leonard Richards, 52, was hit by a falling branch, as he checked for storm damage on his property last September.

Lulu, who was reared by the Richards family, made a huge commotion to alert others, in a scene similar to the 1960s Australian children's series Skippy. "It's the first time a native animal has ever received the award," said RSPCA executive officer Jenny Hodges. "Certainly the vast majority of recipients have been dogs," she told the Associated Press.

Mr Richards said he owed his life to the four-year-old kangaroo, whom they rescued from the pouch of her mother killed in a road accident. "I'd be pushing up daisies if it wasn't for Lulu," he said. He estimates he was unconscious for around half an hour after being struck by the branch not far from the house on his farm, 150 kilometres (93 miles) east of Melbourne.

His wife, Lynn, said at the time she had been alerted by the kangaroo's out-of-character behaviour. "I heard Lulu, she has this bark, and its a very loud bark that she gives out, not like a dog's sound it's quite a nice sound," she said. "I just looked down and I [saw] her at the paddock and Brendan our nephew was with us and I said to him, Len's down there," she told Reuters news agency.

Mr Richards said his nephew told him afterwards that Lulu had been standing over him with her hind legs at his back. "She looked like she'd rolled me over on my side to keep my airway clear, but we'll never know for sure," he said. He was evacuated by helicopter to a Melbourne hospital and has since made a full recovery. Lulu is only the ninth animal to receive the RSPCA's award honouring animals that display exceptional courage in the face of danger.

"What she did was really exceptional," said Jenny Hodges. The story is reminiscent of the long-running Skippy series, about a kangaroo that rescues people in distress in the Australian bush. BBC *

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David Carridine Spooked by Kangas

Kill Bill star David Carradine has revealed details of a close encounter with some disturbed kangaroos during a visit to Australia. The American actor, best known for the 1970s TV series Kung Fu but now enjoying a comeback, ran into the marsupials while filming on location in Queensland two years ago.

On a break from the shoot, Carradine asked his driver to take him to see some of the famous creatures, then fell asleep in the car. He woke up later to find himself in the middle of a special reserve for wayward roos who were bounding towards him. "They were like Hells Angels kangaroos, man. They were crazy," Carradine told The Australian yesterday. The Sun, UK *

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Roo meat a 'disease preventer' Age, April 27, 2004

Researchers may have found another reason why the world should be putting kangaroo on the menu. In laboratory research to help rats fend off many diseases, including obesity, heart disease, diabetes and cancer, kangaroo meat has been found to be rich in a healthy fat.

The research shows that, in addition to being a very lean, high-protein meat, kangaroo may be the best source of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), a polyunsaturated fatty acid found in lower quantities in dairy products, beef and lamb.

The discovery was made by Clare Engelke, an animal biology student at the University of Western Australia, who has been studying CLA in animals. The fat is made in the stomach and tissues of ruminant animals - those using gut bacteria to break down food.

"I was looking for bacteria that forms CLA in lambs," Ms Engelke said yesterday. When she looked at western grey kangaroos, which also ferment food in their foregut but are not true ruminants, she found five times more CLA than in lamb. Why was not clear, Ms Engelke said. She has been collaborating with the CSIRO division of livestock industries and the University of Adelaide.

Unidentified bacteria in kangaroos could be responsible, as could an enzyme in their tissue. The next step would be to identify the source, which could possibly be transferred to conventional livestock to boost their production of the healthy fats. Ms Engelke said tests on rats showed CLA was an anti-carcinogen that could boost the immune system. It also might have anti-diabetes properties and help limit plaque in arteries.

How to get drainpipe thin What a relief researchers have discovered that a roo meat diet will keep rats slim and disease-free ("Eats roos and leaves the fat behind", Herald April 27). Surely the last thing anyone wants is a fat, unhealthy rat. * Letter to the above paper from Mary, April 27.

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