kangaroos

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Escaped Kangaroo Punches Canadian Cop

They've made it an honorary member of K9 unit

(Newser) - Police officers east of Toronto dealt with a situation Monday that their training probably never covered: an escaped kangaroo. The animal hopped over its handlers and escaped late last week during what was supposed to be a brief stop at the Oshawa Zoo en route to Quebec. Staff Sgt. Chris...

State Bills Seek to Prevent Kangaroos Becoming Shoes

Activists say 70% of kangaroo skins sold end up in high-end soccer cleats

(Newser) - Oregon and Connecticut are considering bans on the sale of products made from kangaroos, while a similar bill awaits debate in the US House. Oregon lawmakers have joked that the proposal could "bounce" to the state House or land in "kangaroo court," per Oregon Public Broadcasting . But...

Cops: Kangaroo Kills Man in 86-Year First

Alpaca breeder Peter Eades had already dug his own grave

(Newser) - An animal lover in Australia has died following an attack by his pet kangaroo in what the BBC reports is the first fatal kangaroo attack reported in the country in 86 years. A relative found 77-year-old alpaca breeder Peter Eades with serious injuries on his property in Western Australia on...

Kangaroo Attack Caught on Video
Kangaroo Attack
Caught on Video

Kangaroo Attack Caught on Video

Aussie man wrestled animal to the ground

(Newser) - An Australian man was lucky to survive with only minor injuries after an encounter with what he describes as a "six-foot mad roo trying to rip my little dogs out of the yard." Cliff Des, who lives in central Victoria state, tells 9News that he ended up fighting...

Kangaroos Can Communicate With People
Kangaroos Are Like Dogs
in One Important Way
NEW STUDY

Kangaroos Are Like Dogs in One Important Way

Study shows they can communicate with people, possibly a first in undomesticated animals

(Newser) - It's not just domesticated animals that can communicate with people. A first-of-its-kind study shows kangaroos can do the same thing. Researchers from the University of Roehampton in England and the University of Sydney in Australia presented 11 kangaroos from a variety of Australian zoos with an "unsolvable problem...

Ranger Has Unusual Theory on Kangaroo Attack

Blames jogger's Sarah Jessica Parker perfume

(Newser) - An Aussie woman says she'll never wear her Sarah Jessica Parker perfume again, at least not while she's out for a run, after a frightening incident with a resident kangaroo over the weekend. Tracy Noonan tells the 3AW Breakfast radio program she was jogging Saturday in the Melbourne...

'Friendly' Kangaroo Leads Florida Cops on 30-Minute Chase
Florida Cops
Have a Really
Strange Chase
VIDEO

Florida Cops Have a Really Strange Chase

They capture a runaway kangaroo in Fort Lauderdale

(Newser) - Police in Fort Lauderdale had quite the day Thursday after getting a call about an unlikely escapee. WPLG reports that for 30 minutes or so, cops were in hot pursuit of a kangaroo that escaped from a local home. "I'm trying to catch a kangaroo!" one cop...

Australia Air-Drops Food for Struggling Wildlife

'Operation Rock Wallaby' aids endangered species

(Newser) - Australian wildlife struggling to survive in the aftermath of devastating wildfires are getting some help from above. Thousands of pounds of sweet potatoes and carrots have been dropped from helicopters by national park staff as part of Operation Rock Wallaby in New South Wales, 9News reports. The brush-tailed rock wallaby...

500M Animals Feared Dead in Australia Fires

'Our concern is that ... they're not there anymore, basically'

(Newser) - Those devastated to learn of the likely deaths of thousands of koalas in Australia's wildfires should take a deep breath. Ecologists from the University of Sydney now estimate some 480 million animals have been killed since September, per News.com.au . The outlet notes the figure is "likely...

An Aussie State Is 100% in Drought. Kangaroos Are in Trouble

Country lifts restrictions on shooting kangaroos, who are fighting livestock for pasture

(Newser) - Australia's most populous state was declared entirely in drought on Wednesday, and struggling farmers were given new authority to shoot kangaroos that compete with livestock for sparse pasture during the most intense dry spell in more than 50 years. Much of Australia's southeast is struggling with drought. But...

Aussie Kangaroos in Bloody Quest for Fast Food

Humans are the unfortunate victims in New South Wales

(Newser) - Perhaps this is revenge for a kangaroo's tourist-related death at a zoo in China. Wild kangaroos known to frequent the grounds of a psychiatric hospital near Lake Macquarie on Australia's east coast have been attacking some of the 3,000 tourists who visit each week, drawing warnings from...

Zoo Kangaroo Killed, One Injured Thanks to Terrible, Bored Visitors

Zoo patrons threw bricks, other objects to get marsupials to move around more

(Newser) - One kangaroo is dead and another is injured after visitors at a Chinese zoo hurled rocks and other objects at them in two separate incidents. The Straits Times reports the first pelting happened at the end of February (though China Daily says it happened in early April), when gawkers decided...

Story Behind Man Punching Kangaroo Is 'Intense'
Story Behind Man
Punching Kangaroo
Is 'Intense'
VIRAL VIDEO

Story Behind Man Punching Kangaroo Is 'Intense'

And perhaps not what it seems

(Newser) - Did a now-viral video of a man punching a kangaroo come out of Australia? Yes, of course. Should we be judging him for it? It depends on how you feel about dogs. The video, which has amassed more than 4.1 million views so far, was first posted on Facebook...

Aussie Horror: Driver Mows Down 17 Kangaroos

Authorities say tire tracks show it was deliberate

(Newser) - A strip of Australian highway was left strewn with injured and dead kangaroos Monday morning, and animal welfare officials are trying to find out who they say ran them down intentionally, the Guardian reports. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals says a driver outside Brisbane purposely...

It Turns Out Kangaroos Are Lefties

Red and eastern gray kangaroos are all left-handed, researchers find

(Newser) - Handedness (the preference for using one hand over the other for nearly all tasks) likely emerged in humans soon after we began to walk upright. And for years scientists have thought this trait belongs almost exclusively to bipedal primates, given it's never before been observed in quadruped creatures. Now...

Ancient Giant Kangaroos Too Heavy to Hop

Their lumbering gait may have been their undoing

(Newser) - It isn't just recently that humans have hunted animals to extinction. It appears that 100,000 years ago a giant kangaroo lived in the Australian Outback, where it walked instead of hopped. But perhaps due to its slowness, the creature was an easy target for hunters who arrived somewhere...

The Surprising Way Kangaroos Use Their Tails

Critters use it like a fifth leg

(Newser) - Red kangaroos, the largest of the kangaroo species in Australia, don't just use their tails to jump high and fast. When they're grazing for food, in fact, their tails are able to generate enough force that they propel the kangaroo rather like a fifth leg—a trait scientists...

Girl, 7, Seriously Hurt in Kangaroo Attack

Animal leaped on her in picnic area

(Newser) - A 7-year-old Australian girl suffered serious cuts and bruising in a bizarre attack by a kangaroo during a family picnic. "I thought I was going to die,” Makala McEvoy told Sky News . “Everything was gray, gray, gray.” She was playing near a group of kangaroos when...

Australia to Kill 6K Kangaroos
 Australia to Kill 6K Kangaroos 

Australia to Kill 6K Kangaroos

Burgeoning population is harming rare plants; protests planned

(Newser) - Australia's army has started shooting 6,000 kangaroos to thin the animal population on an army training ground near the capital, an official said today, outraging conservationists who have vowed to protest. The killings are intended to protect endangered plants and insects that share the grassy habitat with the kangaroos....

On Green Menu: Roos & Camels
 On Green Menu: Roos & Camels 

On Green Menu: Roos & Camels

Studies say beef emits greenhouse gases

(Newser) - Australians are being advised to save the planet by eating kangaroos and camels. A study of Australia's 1 million wild camels, descendants of camels imported as pack animals, recommends that their numbers be culled by hunting them for food, AFP reports. A separate study suggests that kangaroos be farmed...

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