Australian Warning: Beware angry kangaroos!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5384244/
Saw this today, thought maybe someone be interested:


Attack on woman, killing of pet dog prompt advisory
Two kangaroos fight as others graze near a residential area in Jerrabomberra, a suburb of Canberra, on Tuesday.

Updated: 9:23 a.m. ET July 07, 2004CANBERRA, Australia - Australians living in the nation’s drought-ravaged capital were warned on Wednesday to keep their distance from aggressive kangaroos after the iconic marsupials attacked one woman and killed a pet dog.

Eastern Grey kangaroos, which can grow to 5.6 feet tall and weigh 154 lbs., have started moving out of the parched bush into inner Canberra suburbs during the day to look for grass and water, increasing their contact with people.

A senior wildlife ecologist with Environment ACT, Murray Evans, said the kangaroos could pose a threat to people and dogs, with one woman savaged by a large kangaroo as she was walking her small, pet dog in a paddock last week.

“Her dog went near the kangaroo and she followed and before she knew it the kangaroo lashed out, scratching her down the side of her body,” Evans told Reuters.

Another woman told how a kangaroo drowned one of the four dogs she was walking with a friend, attacking it in a pond and holding it under the water with its hind legs while it hit out at one of the other dogs with its front legs.

“My friend started shouting: ’There’s a kangaroo in the pond. It’s got Summer’. It was surreal, like your worst nightmare,” Christine Canham told the Canberra Times newspaper.

“She was screaming and screaming. The kangaroo just stared back at us. I will never forget that.”

Lack of food prompts behavioral change
Evans said it was not unusual for kangaroos to flee into water if they felt under threat and, as a last defense, they would try to drown their predator with their powerful hind legs.

He said most of the behavioral change in the usually placid animals was due to the scarcity of feed after a run of dry years in Canberra, the inland bush capital, as Australia battles its worst drought in a century.

Kangaroos usually shelter by day and emerge at dusk to feed during the night but the reduction in available grass meant they were now travelling by day in search of food, dramatically increasing the number of encounters with people -- and dogs.

“Kangaroos and dogs just do not mix. Kangaroos see dogs as a threat and get spooked by them,” Evans said.

“The main message people should remember is that kangaroos may look cuddly and furry but they are wild animals and people should keep their distance and keep dogs on leads around them.”

 

:shock: How horrible!


Jamiya

 

aww, thats sad! so in other words, when kangaroos atack! lol.

 

I'm sure glad we don't have roo's here in my neck of the woods!

 

That is horrible.
But you know I have always heard that kangaroos will be mean if approached so to stay away from them. Not that this is a problem for me, but I know they can do some damage!

 

wow, and to think i was affraid of the dog down the street attacking this one puppy!

 

It is known not to go near Kangaroo's when seen. People think that Kangaroo's are seen in the street here over in Australia which is so wrong. There just like dingo's or foxes seen out in the wild.

Very sad though! :cry:

 

That is so sad. Wow, sounds like kangaroos can get pretty mean. I'm glad I don't have to worry about them here.

 

here in new jersey we had a little kangaroo - not sure what they are called, maybe a wallaby? - taken away from a young kid who got it to help teach him to box.

 

Seriously???

 

I seriously laughed out loud when I read some of your comments about lucky that you don't have to worry about them over where you are. Sorry, I couldn't help it....
:mrgreen:
Anyway....... why that woman went near those kangaroos is beyond me... they are very shy creatures and do not come and attack you. They would rather run. There's no way I'd let my dogs near them- just like I'd never let my dogs near a goat, or a horse, or a cow- because they have never met and I wouldn't know how either animal would react.
Sorry again!! Just don't go spreading the word that kangaroos attack dogs and blah blah blah. I don't know anyone over here that is afraid of kangaroos!
Don't get me wrong though it is sad what happened...

 

Maybe the dog was off-leash and ran up to the kangaroo. Nala would.

Some people here (US) do have wallabies for pets. They are one of the exotic animals that are currently popular. I read about them out of curiosity, and like most exotic pets they can be marvelous pets but they require a knowledgeable owner. They are also different from a dog or cat because they have not been domesticated for hundreds of years. A pet wallaby has to be pulled from its mom early and hand-raised (bottlefed) by humans or it will never be tame at all.

The males do box - but you should NOT allow them to! It's like training an undesirable and potentially dangerous behavior out of a dog. You may think it's cute when your 10-pound puppy jumps on you, but your 200-pound Saint Bernard is another matter entirely! Same with boxing and wallabies.


Jamiya

 

Its sad, people tend to think "oh how cute and cuddly!" Not. They are wild animals, and like all wild animals are dangerous. I worked at the Zoo. While the kids and mainly older women though, awwww. We constantly had to educate the public on the dangerousness and ferouciousness of these animals. People often think that Koalas are friendly as well. Not! They can claw and bite and do some seriouls harm to a person. A lady that worked there had her tricep of her left arm ripped completely off by a Koala.

You'd htink people would learn, Stay away, observe and aww from a distance!

 

People are stupid. No doubt about it.


Jamiya

 

i agree with that!

 

YIPESSSSS!

 

yes stormy it is absolutely true. i believe the kid lived in madison or chatham area of jersey which is about a hal hour from me. it was in all our papers. if i can find the story online i will post a link.

 

In Australia we have heaps of zoos where the general public can pet kangaroos and Koalas - these animals are reared in the zoo and are particularly used to people - needless to say, they too can have bad hair days. Out in the wild, like anywhere in the world, wild animals react quite differently and are not to be approached. Like these are not really aggressive animals - the roos have been driven to seek food and water - I guess I'd be a bit toey too if I was in a drought sticken region. I'd say the dogs spooked the roos and so it was on for young and old. As a rule of thumb, they are beautiful creatures but distance is a good thing from any unpredictable wild animal.

 

I've been thinknig about that pet wallaby thing you were talking about, Jamiya. I don't even think it's legal to own a pet wallaby here in Oz unless it's a rescue (from road kill or the like) and then raised to be let back into the wild. I think I remember a story on TV where a family had adopted an orphan kangaroo or wallaby (can't remember which) and authorities intervened and made them give up the kangaroo even though it had been living with them it's whole life, and probably didn't know how to survive in the wild. I find it bizarre that people are keeping wallabies as pets... is it just the kitschy value they are after when they adopt one? Just to be different from the neighbours? I find it weird that it's unheard of here.. I guess it wouldn't be an "exotic" pet if we owned them here!

 

I'm sure a lot of it does have to do with having something different. And in the U.S. they are both cute and unusual - it's not like we have kangaroos wandering around even in our wilderness areas.

Here is one page about pet wallabies: http://www.pygmypets.com/wb3.html

And another: http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art10416.asp


Jamiya