Thursday, July 12, 2007
Australian Ecologist Urges Raising Kangaroos Not Sheep
Regardless of how many times you have seen pictures of a Kangaroo, it really doesn't sink in just how spectacular they are until you are driving down an Australian road and one (or more likely more) bounce out from the side of the road and cross it in front of you. At first you'll sit there and ask "was that REALLY a roo, mate?"
This storyfrom yahoo.com news tells of the recommendation of an Aussie ecologist that farmers down under should stop raising sheep and instead raise 'roo's. That makes perfect sense because the roo's evolved there and the sheep are invasive.
This person's recommendation is akin to the Buffalo Commons on the North American Great Plains.
Australia is suffering through a very destructive drought right now and much of its grassland (that would be the Outback) is being degraded by the lack of rain and the ever present pounding of sheep hooves and teeth on the sensitive grasses. My guess is that if there were more 'roo's and fewer sheep the effects of the drought in Australia would be reduced considerably. But then I'm a biologist so what do I know?
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