Forums > Social Chat > Australian (Kanga)Roos... ev'rything cool?

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FireTomStargazer
6,650 posts

Posted:
Well guys - this is for the Aussies:

Years ago there was a great concern about Roos getting blind, another was that the virus (that was invented to kill the rabbits) jumped to the roos and there was a massive number killed...

Now there are companies who start to use roo-leather for some sneakers and stuff... :eeks:

It brings back the question to my mind: How are the (Kanga)roos doing in Australia? Everything allright?

I strongly hope so, as they are amongst THE most adorable and sweet creatures (especially the (rock) wallabies)

Anyone?

the best smiles are the ones you lead to wink


RoziSILVER Member
100 characters max...
2,996 posts
Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia


Posted:
 Written by: Rouge Dragon


but the thing about australia - a hell of a lot of it isnt suitable for plant farming!



And there is a lot of Australia that has serious environmental problems due to Australians employing unsuitable farming practices to combat this. For example, over-irrigation on marginal land causing dryland salinity.

I have certain cultural qualms against eating certain meats, I don't seem to have them about roo. I know that is a doublestandard.

Lets leave cute out of the equation, because it tends to be misleading. If you were to say we were only able to eat "non-cute" things, we would be left with a diet of roast spiders and deep-fried cockroaches. And who is to say that those spiders don't deserve a chance too?

So, yep, now we have cleared up the orginal question about how kangas are doing (plentiful). We look at whether it is justified to:


Have a cull when the population is high?
Farm them for meat & skins?

It was a day for screaming at inanimate objects.

What this calls for is a special mix of psychology and extreme violence...


MedusaSILVER Member
veteran
1,433 posts
Location: 8 days at Cloudbreak, 6 in Perth, Australia


Posted:
You asked us how the poulation of the Roos was going and all the Australians have answered you honestly and openly through what we know as people who have to live in Australia.

In the late 80's when I was living in outback Australia the government told us that we were allowed to cull Roos because they were a menace, they were creating problems. Now it wasn't us every day Joe that said we could go out and kill Roos it was the government.

Still in the outback they are allowed to kill roos if they are causing problems due to this ruling in certain areas of Australia.

Roos and wallabies are two different types of animal, similar looking and the same family technically but different creaturse....wallabies are protected species and are not allowed to be shot....roos are!

Kangaroos are not cute and cuddly and if you have ever come up cose and personal with a wild one (not one of those tame ones in a petting zoo) you would understand just how nasty they can be.

By the way Koala's are vicious little buggers too...ever seen them fight....my goodness....evil creatures of darkness I tell you!

Roos tend not to be near the road due to the wonderful grass by the side of the road, as anyone who has travelled extensively through Australia will know, A) we are in a drought so the chances of finding grass is slim, extremely slim in the rural areas and B) we generally have dirt by the sides of our roads, it is cleared back a little from the road to try to dissuade animals from going onto the road. Doesn't generally work unfortunately.

Rouge DragonBRONZE Member
Insert Champagne Here
13,215 posts
Location: without class distinction, Australia


Posted:
 Written by:

By the way Koala's are vicious little buggers too...ever seen them fight....my goodness....evil creatures of darkness I tell you!





when they aren't stoned, that is! ubblol

i would have changed ***** to phallus, and claire to petey Petey

Rougie: but that's what I'm doing here
Arnwyn: what letting me adjust myself in your room?..don't you dare quote that on HoP...


MiGGOLD Member
Self-Flagellation Expert
3,414 posts
Location: Bogged at CG, Australia


Posted:
yeah. The driest popluated continent in the world. Some, what, 75-80% is desert or something silly? I say populated because i think antarctica is the driest, due to it having no rainfall at all - too cold.

"beg beg grovel beg grovel"
"master"
--FSA

"There was an arse there, i couldn't help myself"
--Rougie


FoxInDocsSILVER Member
Pooh-Bah
1,848 posts
Location: Adelaide, SA, Australia


Posted:
 Written by: Rouge Dragon


but the thing about australia - a hell of a lot of it isnt suitable for plant farming!



And the bits that are, we've poured concrete all over.

"i am exotic, and must keep my arms down" - Rougie

"i don't understand what penises have to do with getting married" - Foxie


c42fSILVER Member
Member
23 posts
Location: Brissie, Australia


Posted:
 Written by: FireTom


Certainly I acknowledge the fact that Roos are a hazard in some respects... as in traffic for say...

Higways in Germany are mostly fenced as to keep wildlife and stock off the road... I understand that in a country like Australia - with large distances, it`s difficult to fence highways... and only unless "enough" people have died due to this, protection will not go in effect... Besides a bullet is much cheaper and effective than a fence... isn`t it?




Perhaps... It takes more than your usual livestock fence to keep a roo in though. The big ones can jump *very* high fences, and the small ones go under anything which keeps normal livestock like cows or sheep inside! Apart from the fact that, as you say, there are very large distances to cover...

 Written by:


And NOT to eat an animal because its domestication... Chicken and cows are classified as such animals too - but we eat them, no problem. Dogs and cats we don`t and with horses many have a big problem... Anyone having an aquarium? Still eat fish? Birdcage? Poultry?

I really wonder why I personally would never eat cats and dogs... funny thought... Because I cuddled their cousins at some stage? Hmm...



Yes, I find this strange and inconsistent as well. My family has chooks (Australian slang for chickens) and I've never had trouble eating chicken; it's how you view them though - they were never really pets to us, they were really just there for the eggs.

I think youv'e touched on a larger problem: should we kill and eat another concious being? Put that way my immediate reaction is "Of course not", but surely a monkey or a dog is concious to some extent, and if you accept that, then by extension so is a cow, and even a chicken is concious to a lesser extent...

The problem then is, where should we put the cutoff to say "Yes, animal 'A' is yummy and good to eat, but animal 'B' has 'enough conciousness' that it's amoral to eat it"?

I worry that this is a bit arbitrary and suspect that the only consistent thing is to refrain from eating animals all together. Having said that though, IANAV, although I do eat less meat than most people.

Apart from the cutoff being arbitrary, what about the following scenario: Suppose that we (ie homo sapiens) were further down the food chain, and that there were other more intelligent, "more concious" beings above us which were outside our understanding. (I find this a rather plausible suggestion for a technologically driven evolution in the future, but that's *even more* off-topic wink ). What then if they decided that we had so little conciousness as to justify eating us? Yes, chickens run away when you come to butcher them as well frown

~Chris

FireTomStargazer
6,650 posts

Posted:
Allright smile I understand that Roos in Oz are not doing bad at all... Evidence are the high number of corpses next to the highway, the media releases, public opinion and the gov`t suggesting the commercial use of meat and skin...

Neither are Roos suffering anymore from blindness, nor the virus that was implemented to reduce the rabbit-plague (pretty cute bugger those bunnies I tell ya by the way) has affected them much...

Well IMO this is GREAT news and thanks for all the input - I highly appreciate it.

But this thread sparked some controversy and confusion (in my mind)...

umm
 Written by: Chris

IANAV

confused

 Written by:

Roos tend not to be near the road due to the wonderful grass by the side of the road, as anyone who has travelled extensively through Australia will know, A) we are in a drought so the chances of finding grass is slim, extremely slim in the rural areas and B) we generally have dirt by the sides of our roads it is cleared back a little from the road to try to dissuade animals from going onto the road. Doesn't generally work unfortunately.



When you moved the dirt OFF your roads, what is left of the road anyways? wink No serious, some believe that there is condensed water on the concrete and this would create some fresh grassy areas next to them... Thanks for illuminating this erraneous opinion - however as far as my memory goes, roadsides in Oz greatly differ depending on the areas they cross.

Fencing for Roos? Well yeah, this one would be almost too obviously a fence higher than 2m... where was I with my thoughts? redface

I met Roos in the Outback too and I'd never really encounter with a wild kangaroo (as not with a dingo). But even though they can be quite nasty I reckon they are pretty cute animals, have a funny look and ways to move around... but I also consider bears "cute" animals (despite them being VERY dangerous) - so maybe you shouldn't listen to me on this one...

As for the part of the commercial use of Kangaroo meat and skin, personally I think that the branch of "greedy polyticianus" and "reckless industrialis" is getting far too high - which department is responsible for setting the quotas? wink smile devil

the best smiles are the ones you lead to wink


MedusaSILVER Member
veteran
1,433 posts
Location: 8 days at Cloudbreak, 6 in Perth, Australia


Posted:
Wow....looked up Kangaroos and found out they can jump up to 3-4 metres high and about 7-8 metres long....blah...that is huge.

Mr MajestikSILVER Member
coming to a country near you
4,696 posts
Location: home of the tiney toothy bear, Australia


Posted:
this is what can make them dangerous, you've got no chance of outrunning a wild roo and no chance defending against a kick.

koalas can swim. (just a cool fact)

"but have you considered there is more to life than your eyelids?"

jointly owned by Fire_Spinning_Angel and Blu_Valley


hydroslinkyMember
5 posts

Posted:
Tom : "Fortunately in the meantime people found out that not only the fins, but also the skin of the sharks can be quite profitable - and the sharks benefit in a way that they get killed and not only thrown back into the ocean with their fins cut off... Besides, shark steak is delicious."


.... uhm just thought id bring up the fact that sharks livers aparently have one of the highest vitamin B content you can find.... hense forth the possible truth or rumour that sharks liver is the one of the main ingredients to Beroca!... eek

god knows what else is used for what....?
anyways....

c42fSILVER Member
Member
23 posts
Location: Brissie, Australia


Posted:
[obscure]
IANAV = I am not a vegetarian wink = corruption of IANAL
[/obscure]

RoziSILVER Member
100 characters max...
2,996 posts
Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia


Posted:
 Written by: Mr Majestik


koalas can swim. (just a cool fact)



So can roos. There have also been reports of kangaroos deliberately drowning dogs by wrestling them into the water and holding them under, as they are competition for water during drier times (or just cos they hate dogs). Interesting Fact

It was a day for screaming at inanimate objects.

What this calls for is a special mix of psychology and extreme violence...


FireTomStargazer
6,650 posts

Posted:
c42f: barely legal...what´s the L standing for? (I Am Not A L....)

hydroslinky: what the *** is beroca?

However Skippy, Boomer and Joey - nice nicknames for Roos smile but I am likely to doubt that they go out and catch dogs/ dingoes to drown them. In the article it was stated that this is their way to defend themselves from the dogs... Still can`t picture a Roo as a predator... but 4x8 metres jump IS HUGE! eek

the best smiles are the ones you lead to wink


c42fSILVER Member
Member
23 posts
Location: Brissie, Australia


Posted:
 Written by: FireTom


c42f: barely legal...what´s the L standing for? (I Am Not A L....)




Ah, multiple layers of obscurity sorry... L = Lawyer (though "legal" is getting close biggrin). I didn't make that one up on the spot at least (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_slang)

FireTomStargazer
6,650 posts

Posted:
omg thks 4 bringing tou... wink

Beroca: Vitamin/ Mineral supplement, often used for body sculpting.... *errm* body-building/ fitness

rolleyes as if this couldn't be manufactured without killing sharks...

the best smiles are the ones you lead to wink


james_r80GOLD Member
Member
19 posts
Location: On a big hill, Australia


Posted:
I ran over a roo in my 4wd the other day.... it was messy ooooops

Seize The Carp


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