A new cryptic species of rock-wallaby has been described by a team of scientists led by Dr Sally Potter from the Australian Museum Research Institute and the Australian National University. Rock-wallabies (genus Petrogale) are small to medium-sized marsupials, weighing from 1 to 12 kg. These animals are only found in mainland Australia and some offshore […]
Tag: kangaroo
Tree-huggers: koalas cuddle up to keep cool
Animals that live in hot climates have various behavioral adaptations to help keep them cool. Kangaroos lick their wrists; rats lick their testicles. New-world vultures urinate on themselves. Humans and horses sweat. These behaviors all take advantage of the ability of evaporation to lower temperature by transferring heat energy from an animal’s body to the […]
Nike plan to drop ‘cruel’ kangaroo leather football boots
Two leading animal campaigning groups – Viva! (Vegetarians International Voice for Animals) and AWPC (Australian Wildlife Protection Council) – are contacting the sports retail giant Nike to congratulate them on taking an ethical decision that could save the lives of thousands of kangaroos. A Nike spokesman confirmed yesterday that they would stop using the skins […]
Massive Annual Slaughter of Grey Kangaroos in Australia
Each night in remote areas of the Australian outback thousands of kangaroos graze peacefully, stand up on hearing an approaching vehicle, stare into a blinding spotlight, and are shot for their meat and skins. The commercial kangaroo kill ‘quota’ for 2009 (the number permitted to be killed) was just under 4 million kangaroos. In […]
Tribunal halts kangaroo cull
The lives of nearly 1,500 kangaroos that roam the open spaces of Canberra have been spared after a tribunal sided with animal rights campaigners to halt a planned mass cull of the marsupials. The ACT civil and administrative tribunal ruling on Wednesday night provides a temporary reprieve for the eastern grey kangaroo population, pending a […]