Don't feed carrots to the kangaroos

Warrigal

Warrigal

SF VIP
Location
Sydney, Australia
Kangaroos are not cute cuddly animals. If you are asked not to feed wildlife, then you should comply.

Some tourists in the Northern Territory have started feeding crocodile by dangling meat or chickens over the from a fishing line to get a croc to jump for it. This is a disaster waiting to happen. Only morons would be unable to understand the danger.

Kangaroos on the other hand seem rather benign animals but appearances can be deceiving. Tourists should listen to the locals for their own safety and the safety of others.

'One lady got 17 stitches': Kangaroos hopped up on carrots are attacking tourists

They are the cute and cuddly icons of Australia, but kangaroos are viciously attacking people at a popular tourist spot, and an addiction to carrots is to blame.
"There are people getting kicked and scratched at least every day," tourist shuttle bus driver Shane Lewis said.

Every week, thousands of people flock to the unlikely tourist destination of Morisset Hospital in southern Lake Macquarie, where big mobs of kangaroos can always be found on the grassy slopes.

It's less than a two-hour train ride from Sydney and the travel blogs promise "adorable wild kangaroos" that are "tame enough to get close to and take photos with".

But too many tourists are dangling a carrot to get the perfect roo-selfie.

"The kangaroos see at least 2,000 tourists a week and they don't need 2,000 carrots or bananas and bread, chips and biscuits," Mr Lewis said.

Photo: Tourist shuttle bus driver Shane Lewis wants people to realise kangaroos can be dangerous animals. (Supplied: Shane Lewis )
"I've even seen some silly people feeding them McDonalds, KFC, corn chips, oats and there are some foods they are very aggressive for."

Mr Lewis has made a business out of shuttling people from the Morisset train station to the kangaroos at the hospital, but wants more done to prevent people feeding them. He said he did his best to educate people and warn them of the dangers and, over the past eight months, has been collecting photos of injured tourists to help convey the message.

"Once I show them the photos they usually pull their kids away and put their food away when they know what can actually happen," he said. "There was a guy who got his stomach gashed open and he wasn't even feeding them but … they'd been to McDonalds 10 minutes before, so whether they still had the food smell on them I have no idea, but for some reason the kangaroo took to him."

According to the experts the kangaroos have most likely lost their fear of people, and have grown hungrier for the unnatural food being delivered to them.

"If they see a carrot and they've been fed a carrot 100 times before by a tourist, then they're going to come up and take that carrot," said Andrew Daly, an animal keeper at the Australian Reptile Park. "And in doing so they can be quite aggressive. They can kick, they can scratch with their front paws and do quite a bit of damage, especially when they're trying to get those foods that they really like, or could be addicted to."

And if you thought a carrot was healthier for a kangaroo than junk food, think again.

"They're both just as bad in different ways," Mr Daly said. "To a kangaroo a carrot is really, really high in sugar, so for us it's quite healthy, but for a kangaroo it's like having a chocolate bar. They can gorge or overfeed on them very easily."

And the result will not just be a fat and angry kangaroo.

Mr Daly said feeding kangaroos anything other than grass could cause them to develop deadly diseases.
"One in particular is called lumpy jaw and it's where high sugar diets or any food that can be a bit abrasive in the mouth causes cuts and lesions and then a bacteria will get into those cuts," he said. "From there the disease develops and it's generally fatal."
Click to expand...
 

It's foolish for anyone to feed any wild animals like that, they do lose their fear of humans and can become very dangerous to be around, folks here will do it with bears and coyotes....not a good idea.
 
It's a video Warrigal..I can see it... of boxing kangaroos..

Yep with regard to your OP...there's never any accounting for stupidity. Regardless of how often or clearly people are told how to behave for their own safety , there's always those who make their own rules, and when they get hurt or killed then it's usually someone else's fault...
 
Probably not supported in my part of the world.
This happens when the person who uploaded the video didn't make it available to all other countries.
 
When kangaroos are used in advertising to draw tourists, you can't totally fault the offending visitors.
 
Local knowledge is important and tourists do need to listen to advice. When we were in US driving around the western states I paid attention to warnings about the wild life and resisted the urge to feed the cute little critters after reading about their fleas that could transmit plague. I already knew about rabies. Australia is free of both diseases so I did as I was told and kept my distance. In Canada I paid particular attention to rules concerning the bears and food. Bears are more dangerous than sharks in that a shark never breaks into your cabin or car to get a feed. I decided to follow all advice to the letter to avoid becoming bear food myself.
 
Sorry if you can't see the video Warrigal, It's kickboxing kangaroos. VERY big and strong.

This morning on Rachel Ray some guy had animals....one was a "small" kangaroo but they had to quicky take hime off because he got restless. Obviously didn't want to be bothered.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top