The land of “Kangaroos”

Kangaroos are unique to Australia and they take pride in calling the country the “land of Kangaroos.” Kangaroo appear in the Australian coat of arms, on the currencies and on the airline logos. Here is a glimpse of the kangaroo story.

Statics of kangaroos

When living in Australia Kangaroos become a part of our life for it is called the land of kangaroos. Australia has earned this name for very justified reason, for the kangaroos are found only in Australia. They are all the time competing to outnumber the human population. It is believed that the Kangaroos are anytime in the range of 25 million in the country. The kangaroos are counted through aerial surveys.

It is very interesting to note that there are more than fifty varieties of Kangaroos in the country. They differ in size and colour but belong to the same family “polyphyletic species”. They are unique creatures for a couple of reasons. One reason is the female kangaroos having a pouch to carry the babies and, the babies live in the pouch at least nine months before they step on earth. They are so tiny at the time of birth and their journey from the womb to the pouch is a wonder of nature. There is no other heavy species that can jump like a rabbit. A leap of a grown kangaroo is about 25 to 30 feet.

Life span

The largest variety - Giant Kangaroos are about seven feet in length and they live more than two decades in the wild. The “Eastern Greys” are five to six feet in size and have a little shorter life span than the Giants. The “Western greys” live half the life of Giant reds. They live in groups and work for their protection and are prepared to fight for their protection. The strong hind legs are used to kick the enemy and the hands are used to punching. There are many incidents where human beings are punched or kicked by the kangaroos. The long, strong muscular tail is used to balance body.

Slaughter

Kangaroos are so vast in numbers the state issues licence annually to slaughter a specific number for meat and leather industry. The numbers killed are so high they remain the highest harvest of wild animals in the planet. For instance, in the year 2015 the kangaroos killed remain as 6.8 million. Australia keeps looking for overseas markets for the export of the meat. The specialty is the kangaroo meat is that they are the lowest in fat content.UK is currently the best buyer of kangaroo meat. Killing is done by shooting each kangaroo on the head. As kangaroo’s head is small there are instances of missing the target and the bullet hitting the neck or the chest.

Leather

Kangaroo leather is well popular in the leather industry in the world. Top brand names such as Nike and Adidas to use kangaroo leather in their productions. The exports of kangaroo meat and leather brought in 174 million dollars to the country. It has generated more than 2,000 jobs to the people of Australia.

The reason why the rapid growth of kangaroos is controlled by killing them is well explained to the people by the state. It is done with the good intention of controlling the harmful damage to the environment and to protect some varieties of grass that may extinct due to over grazing.