Australia is famous for its distinctive mammals, none more so than the kangaroo. Kangaroos are entrenched in our national psyche, they are part of our folklore, our ancient and recent histories. A kangaroo adorns our coat of arms. Our national airline, Qantas, is nicknamed ‘The Flying Kangaroo’, a stylised kangaroo is its logo. Our national supporters flag for all sports is ‘The Boxing Kangaroo’, while individual sports either use the name or variations of it. Our national rugby league side is called the Kangaroos; our men’s football team, the Socceroos; our gold medal-winning women’s hockey team, the Hockeyroos, and our men’s basketball side is the Boomers (a slang term for a large kangaroo).
A television series, Skippy the Bush Kangaroo, was one of our most popular programs, with over 90 episodes produced. Fortunately, little Skippy was multilingual, so when the show was sent around the world, Skippy le kangourou was a hit in French-speaking countries, while Spanish speakers enjoyed watching Skippy el canguro.
Kangaroos belong to the family Macropodidae, the word coming from Greek words meaning long (or large) foot. Macropods occur naturally only in Australia and New Guinea. Of Australia’s 45 macropods, seven are extinct. The largest is the red kangaroo of outback Australia. The species that roams Canberra’s hills is the eastern grey kangaroo, the second largest of the family. A standing male typically is about 1.4 m (4’7’’) tall, though big males can reach 2 m (6’6”) and weigh 66 kg (146 lb).
So how did Canberra become the ‘Kanga Capital’? Kangaroos have been here for millennia, surviving hunting by Aboriginals, and land clearing and shooting by white settlers. The founding of Canberra gave them protection, provided a secure water supply in times of drought, nature reserves for them to live in, rangers to look after them, and laws to keep marauding dogs under control.
And Canberra also provided a human community that loves kangaroos, none more so than the city’s panel beaters, those hard-working chaps who repair smashed cars. Canberra’s kangaroos are not restrained, they move freely between reserves via the vast areas of open space described in my previous blog. The only danger ‘roos face is when crossing roads, and, as any Canberran can tell you, seeing dead kangas on roadsides is not unusual. These sightings often equate to smashed cars; even small dents are expensive to replace (nothing gets repaired these days, does it?).
Having an afternoon snooze
As the crow flies, I live about 10 km (6 mi) from the city centre. My house backs on to an artificial lake; the boundary of Mount Percival Nature Reserve is just 200 m (220 yd) away. Every day, I walk my dogs along, but outside, the reserve boundary, beside a creek, below the lake wall. Every day, I see kangaroos. Yesterday, I saw about 30, and took some photos; the day before, about 80. At other times, I have seen over 100 in this fairly small reserve.
Can you find the Joey in the pouch?
The photos show some of the kangaroos I saw yesterday. They were initially lying down, but when I stopped walking to take photos, some stood up. Between the houses and the kangaroos is a busy road. Telstra Tower is in the background; it is close to the city and located in Black Mountain Nature Reserve.
Canberrans are great users of our nature reserves – walking, jogging, picnicking, bird watching – and every day, my experience at Mount Percival is repeated in the other nature reserves. There are thousands of kangaroos in and around the city.
This is why Canberra is the kangaroo capital of the world!