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Pip and Pino, Eastern Grey Kangaroos: the perfect Australians
Both within and outside Australia, the kangaroo is the continent’s quintessential icon. Indeed, the kangaroo is Australia’s national symbol.
While there are multiple explanations for the origin of the name ‘kangaroo’, one is that it derived from the Aboriginal Guugu Yimithirr people’s term for “grey kangaroo”. Kangaroos live in social groups called “mobs,” tending to be crepuscular (feeding at dawn and dusk), and herbivorous. They use their powerful tail as a third leg to balance as they artfully navigate the intricate twists and turns of the Australian bush.
However, as ubiquitous as the kangaroo’s existence may be on clothing, in travel advertisements, on television, and legend, the numbers of Red Kangaroos, Western and Eastern Grey Kangaroos, Wallaroos and Euro communities are at critically low levels. Kangaroo densities are now less than five kangaroos per square kilometer, technically declared by the government’s Murray Darling Commission as 'quasi extinction.'[1]. The reasons for their demise are familiar to those of other wildlife.
All kangaroos are in a life and death struggle to survive the combination of drought, habitat appropriation and destruction, illegal and legal killing by farmers, roadside deaths and systematic culls performed in state forests, parks, reserves and even national parks. Since 2001, kangaroo numbers have dropped dramatically by an average of 65% and in some areas by 80% [2] and kangaroos are not alone.
Dr. Teresa Carden-Buss, Co-founder of Australians for Wildlife and researcher for World League for Protection of Animals reports that the “Birds Australia Atlas” states that emus, another iconic animal of Australia, are now under extreme threat having lost 50 % in numbers. Red Kangaroos, Western and Eastern Grey Kangaroos and Euros are commercially-hunted species. Australia has a booming “kangaroo industry” that kills millions annually. In 2008 alone, 3.6 million kangaroos were killed to “supply meat for export and pet food, and skins to sports shoe companies in Europe, Asia and the USA.“ Despite their fragile status, the South Australian Government will permit 12-20% of their populations to be killed by the kangaroo industry every year until at least 2012.
Much like elephants, seals, parrots, belugas, wild turkeys, and so many wildlife communities, kangaroos must now rely on humans to help them survive as a species and individually. Orphaned joeys (kangaroo young) witness the brutal killing of their mothers and family and suffer severe trauma. Others are badly injured by ‘sport’ hunting.
Aussie “Quilt making"
This month, we feature Pip, Pino, Susie and Mark Rowe and Brett Clifton — people and kangaroos who together form part of a long legacy of “quilt making”, the process of stitching back together the pieces of wildlife communities left from the effect of human violence. The Rowes, Brett Clifton, and many others (see Elephants on the Edge) tend to the minds and hearts as well as bodies of injured wildlife. These individuals and others involved in organizations like the Australian Society for Kangaroos [2] illustrate trans-species community in service and action. Their stories exemplify the struggle and stress that kangaroos, and the people who are working hard to save them, face every day. By stepping in to save and nurse injured or orphaned kangaroos from trauma to recovery and in so doing help kangaroos in their struggle to survive not only as individuals and as a species, but as vibrant and dynamic cultures.
The Story of Pip
Susie Rowe describes her rescue of Pip, a young Grey Kangaroo. “We are so blessed to have Pip – he had a very narrow escape early in his life!
One day, as I was driving along the highway towards town, near our farm in NSW in June 2008, I saw something small on the road up ahead. All of a sudden the ‘something’ moved and I could see two small ears. It was a little joey lying on the road. I could also see a big truck heading towards us, hurtling along in his direction. I quickly drove up and did a U-turn, parking behind him and then opened my door so the truck would leave more room as it rattled passed us. I prayed that the joey would not move from that spot.
Because he was still just lying on the road, I thought he must have been badly injured. I approached him quietly and to my surprise he scrambled up and hopped away! I always carry spare pouches in the car, so I scooped him into a pouch and held him tightly. The poor little man must have been so frightened. He was so tiny, just 1.4 kilograms (3.1 pounds) which meant that he was about six months old, and was so vulnerable, scrawny and thin. I named the young joey ‘Pip’ after a friend, Phillip, who loves kangaroos.
I looked around for his mother but she wasn’t in sight nearby. Oddly enough, friends who lived near that spot had rung me the night before to tell me that an Eastern Grey had been killed by a car about 100 meters back along the road. Her orphaned joey had been rescued and taken to them; my friends brought the young kangaroo to me so we could weigh him, and provide them with some milk formula, teats and pouches. They named him Tom.
It was puzzling that I could see Tom’s poor Mummy lying by the side of the road but not Pip’s. What had happened and why was the tiny joey all by himself, lying in the middle of the busy highway? It was possible that his mother could still be alive, back in the forest but why had she dropped her baby when he was so small?
On rare occasions, a kangaroo can have twins but she is not able to carry two joeys to full size; there is not enough room for both to fit in her pouch. Eventually, as the joeys grow, one must leave the safety of the mother’s pouch and be able to fend for him/herself. In Pip’s case, did his mother have a second sibling in her pouch? Was this the time when she had left one out, Pip, and he had had to make his way to where we found him? Maybe his mother had been hit, was injured but was able to struggle away to safety, but her joey had been thrown out in the accident? Or perhaps Pip was the twin to Tom but hadn’t been found last night? They certainly looked very similar and were the same weight and therefore roughly the same age. It was also possible that his mother had been chased by humans and in fright had thrown her joey out to keep him safe until the danger had passed and she was able to retrieve him. We have heard reports that local town's people have shot and injured kangaroos with crossbows. So many questions whose answers we will probably never know as is the case of many rescued kangaroos. Often, we do not know any or only very little history of the kangaroos who come to our sanctuary, and Pip was no different.
By the end of January, Pip had grown out of and finished with his pouch during the day and had started going out to the wild with the bigger Grey and Red kangaroos. He returned in the evening and after his dinner, snuggled into his pouch. He continued to sleep in his basket all night beside my bed. His little sister Kookie, who came into care in December, slept in her pouch beside him. Gradually he found that sleeping all night became difficult and he became restless, he wanted to be outside in the early morning and see the sun rising. He needed to be out there grazing with his mates.
Now Pip is over 10 kg (22 pounds) and is such a gentle soul. Tom has come to live here, too, as has a Western Grey of the same age, Harry. They are all the best of friends and are always together, playing, grazing or just relaxing in the sun. “
The Story of Pino
Brett Clifton
“Pino is a very special girl. Similar to Pip, Pino is an Eastern Grey Kangaroo who had a tough start in life. Her mother was killed by a car across the border from Canberra, the capital of Australia, in September 2007. The significance of the location is that had she been found within the borders of the ACT she would have been killed because the local government has a draconian, cruel, and unethical policy of mandatory euthanasia for orphaned Eastern Grey joeys, irrespective of their viability. Even though a rescued joey might easily recover, she or he is automatically killed.
Pino's left foot was fractured in the accident - often a death warrant for kangaroos. But because she was so young and not yet actively hopping around, it was not too late to set her foot. This didn't go smoothly though, and about one month later she contracted a bone infection that required intensive antibiotic treatment for several weeks. When she recovered from this, we were able to do something about the fact that her foot was becoming increasingly twisted. Her foot had to be re-broken and reset. This time it healed well.
Pino overcame all of these hardships, including a bout of pneumonia not long after she came into care. But by December 2007, Pino was able to be transferred to a pre-release site with her companion, Kiyo.
In October 2008, in preparation for her eventual release, Pino and Kiyo were relocated to our 200-acre property on which she now lives, along with 12 other orphaned kangaroos. The idea was that this ‘instant mob’ of orphans would be released together. When the time came to release this mob, it was decided to hold Pino and another kangaroo, Jingles, back for a few more months to ensure that they were ready. They continued to interact with their former friends through the fence, and eventually joined them when they were released in April 2009.
In July, Pino was attacked by a fox (a feral introduced species in Australia), possibly because she was a little smaller and slower than the others. She escaped and immediately returned to her former enclosure, where she knew she could find refuge. When we found her there the next morning we took her in immediately and treated her for potential myopathy - a degenerative and debilitating condition that could result from the stress of the attack and eventually kill her if left unattended. For several weeks we kept her at the house in the evening and during the day left her in the enclosure with one or two ‘babysitters’ - usually her old friends Kiyo and Jingles.
Despite the very best veterinary care and support from the amazing Dr. Howard Ralph and others whose lives have been touched by Pino's gentle nature, she started having seizures a couple of weeks ago. These got progressively worse, until last night when we thought we were going to lose her. She was very stiff, could no longer drink water on her own, and was having frequent sharp pain spasms. I nursed her in my arms all night on my bed, feeling the pain she was going through each time she had a spasm, expecting her to draw her last breath at any moment.
But Pino is still with us! The next morning, quite miraculously, she raised her head again to take a bottle of formula. Then she got up, drank about half a litre of water, and proceeded to help herself from the bowl of grass in the corner of the bedroom (everyone has one of these in their bedroom, right?!). She kept eating all day, and so far has not had another seizure.
That's the story so far... I'm off to give Pino her evening bottle of formula and her medications. Please say your prayers for her, but right now tomorrow looks like being a much brighter day for our brave little joey."
References Cited
[1] Nikki Sutterby, Australian Society for Kangaroos quoted in http://www.stopkangarookilling.org/. October 2008
[2] Australian Society for Kangaroos.
More Information About Kangaroos and How You Can Help
For an over view and background information on kangaroos and their plight, see the Australian Wildlife Protection Council
Save the Kangaroo
photo credits
Pino photos, courtesy Brett Clifton
"Beau, roo from University HIll with arrow", photo courtesy Manfred Zabinskas
Pip photos, courtesy of Susie and Mark Rowe
back to top
Archives
Pip and Pino, Eastern Grey Kangaroos: the perfect Australians
While there are multiple explanations for the origin of the name ‘kangaroo’, one is that it derived from the Aboriginal Guugu Yimithirr people’s term for “grey kangaroo”. Kangaroos live in social groups called “mobs,” tending to be crepuscular (feeding at dawn and dusk), and herbivorous. They use their powerful tail as a third leg to balance as they artfully navigate the intricate twists and turns of the Australian bush.
However, as ubiquitous as the kangaroo’s existence may be on clothing, in travel advertisements, on television, and legend, the numbers of Red Kangaroos, Western and Eastern Grey Kangaroos, Wallaroos and Euro communities are at critically low levels. Kangaroo densities are now less than five kangaroos per square kilometer, technically declared by the government’s Murray Darling Commission as 'quasi extinction.'[1]. The reasons for their demise are familiar to those of other wildlife.
All kangaroos are in a life and death struggle to survive the combination of drought, habitat appropriation and destruction, illegal and legal killing by farmers, roadside deaths and systematic culls performed in state forests, parks, reserves and even national parks. Since 2001, kangaroo numbers have dropped dramatically by an average of 65% and in some areas by 80% [2] and kangaroos are not alone.
Much like elephants, seals, parrots, belugas, wild turkeys, and so many wildlife communities, kangaroos must now rely on humans to help them survive as a species and individually. Orphaned joeys (kangaroo young) witness the brutal killing of their mothers and family and suffer severe trauma. Others are badly injured by ‘sport’ hunting.
Aussie “Quilt making"
This month, we feature Pip, Pino, Susie and Mark Rowe and Brett Clifton — people and kangaroos who together form part of a long legacy of “quilt making”, the process of stitching back together the pieces of wildlife communities left from the effect of human violence. The Rowes, Brett Clifton, and many others (see Elephants on the Edge) tend to the minds and hearts as well as bodies of injured wildlife. These individuals and others involved in organizations like the Australian Society for Kangaroos [2] illustrate trans-species community in service and action. Their stories exemplify the struggle and stress that kangaroos, and the people who are working hard to save them, face every day. By stepping in to save and nurse injured or orphaned kangaroos from trauma to recovery and in so doing help kangaroos in their struggle to survive not only as individuals and as a species, but as vibrant and dynamic cultures.
The Story of Pip
Susie Rowe describes her rescue of Pip, a young Grey Kangaroo. “We are so blessed to have Pip – he had a very narrow escape early in his life!
Because he was still just lying on the road, I thought he must have been badly injured. I approached him quietly and to my surprise he scrambled up and hopped away! I always carry spare pouches in the car, so I scooped him into a pouch and held him tightly. The poor little man must have been so frightened. He was so tiny, just 1.4 kilograms (3.1 pounds) which meant that he was about six months old, and was so vulnerable, scrawny and thin. I named the young joey ‘Pip’ after a friend, Phillip, who loves kangaroos.
It was puzzling that I could see Tom’s poor Mummy lying by the side of the road but not Pip’s. What had happened and why was the tiny joey all by himself, lying in the middle of the busy highway? It was possible that his mother could still be alive, back in the forest but why had she dropped her baby when he was so small?
On rare occasions, a kangaroo can have twins but she is not able to carry two joeys to full size; there is not enough room for both to fit in her pouch. Eventually, as the joeys grow, one must leave the safety of the mother’s pouch and be able to fend for him/herself. In Pip’s case, did his mother have a second sibling in her pouch? Was this the time when she had left one out, Pip, and he had had to make his way to where we found him? Maybe his mother had been hit, was injured but was able to struggle away to safety, but her joey had been thrown out in the accident? Or perhaps Pip was the twin to Tom but hadn’t been found last night? They certainly looked very similar and were the same weight and therefore roughly the same age. It was also possible that his mother had been chased by humans and in fright had thrown her joey out to keep him safe until the danger had passed and she was able to retrieve him. We have heard reports that local town's people have shot and injured kangaroos with crossbows. So many questions whose answers we will probably never know as is the case of many rescued kangaroos. Often, we do not know any or only very little history of the kangaroos who come to our sanctuary, and Pip was no different.
Now Pip is over 10 kg (22 pounds) and is such a gentle soul. Tom has come to live here, too, as has a Western Grey of the same age, Harry. They are all the best of friends and are always together, playing, grazing or just relaxing in the sun. “
The Story of Pino
Brett Clifton
“Pino is a very special girl. Similar to Pip, Pino is an Eastern Grey Kangaroo who had a tough start in life. Her mother was killed by a car across the border from Canberra, the capital of Australia, in September 2007. The significance of the location is that had she been found within the borders of the ACT she would have been killed because the local government has a draconian, cruel, and unethical policy of mandatory euthanasia for orphaned Eastern Grey joeys, irrespective of their viability. Even though a rescued joey might easily recover, she or he is automatically killed.
Pino overcame all of these hardships, including a bout of pneumonia not long after she came into care. But by December 2007, Pino was able to be transferred to a pre-release site with her companion, Kiyo.
In October 2008, in preparation for her eventual release, Pino and Kiyo were relocated to our 200-acre property on which she now lives, along with 12 other orphaned kangaroos. The idea was that this ‘instant mob’ of orphans would be released together. When the time came to release this mob, it was decided to hold Pino and another kangaroo, Jingles, back for a few more months to ensure that they were ready. They continued to interact with their former friends through the fence, and eventually joined them when they were released in April 2009.
In July, Pino was attacked by a fox (a feral introduced species in Australia), possibly because she was a little smaller and slower than the others. She escaped and immediately returned to her former enclosure, where she knew she could find refuge. When we found her there the next morning we took her in immediately and treated her for potential myopathy - a degenerative and debilitating condition that could result from the stress of the attack and eventually kill her if left unattended. For several weeks we kept her at the house in the evening and during the day left her in the enclosure with one or two ‘babysitters’ - usually her old friends Kiyo and Jingles.
Despite the very best veterinary care and support from the amazing Dr. Howard Ralph and others whose lives have been touched by Pino's gentle nature, she started having seizures a couple of weeks ago. These got progressively worse, until last night when we thought we were going to lose her. She was very stiff, could no longer drink water on her own, and was having frequent sharp pain spasms. I nursed her in my arms all night on my bed, feeling the pain she was going through each time she had a spasm, expecting her to draw her last breath at any moment.
But Pino is still with us! The next morning, quite miraculously, she raised her head again to take a bottle of formula. Then she got up, drank about half a litre of water, and proceeded to help herself from the bowl of grass in the corner of the bedroom (everyone has one of these in their bedroom, right?!). She kept eating all day, and so far has not had another seizure.
That's the story so far... I'm off to give Pino her evening bottle of formula and her medications. Please say your prayers for her, but right now tomorrow looks like being a much brighter day for our brave little joey."
References Cited
[1] Nikki Sutterby, Australian Society for Kangaroos quoted in http://www.stopkangarookilling.org/. October 2008
[2] Australian Society for Kangaroos.
More Information About Kangaroos and How You Can Help
For an over view and background information on kangaroos and their plight, see the Australian Wildlife Protection Council
Save the Kangaroo
photo credits
Pino photos, courtesy Brett Clifton
"Beau, roo from University HIll with arrow", photo courtesy Manfred Zabinskas
Pip photos, courtesy of Susie and Mark Rowe
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© 2010 Kerulos Center All rights reserved
"Science in service to animals"
Kangaroo Facts
Teresa Carden-Buss, WLPA provides these facts about kangaroos and their precarious status:
The average age of the Red Kangaroo populations is two years and the average weight only 18kgs. This makes it clear that the Red Kangaroo is under extreme pressure bearing in mind that Red Kangaroos can live to nearly thirty years of age and reach a weight of 85 kg or more. (from Dr Steve Mc Leod NSW Agriculture - 'Recent Advances in the Scientific Knowledge of kangaroos' Conference held at the UNSW July 14, 2001)
The average female Red Kangaroo produces only 3.5 viable offspring in her lifetime. Scientific evidence suggests that Red Kangaroo populations cannot increase by more than 6-8% a year on average during good times. However, the killing quota is currently set at three times that rate, ie at approx. 21% of the "assessed" population. (The Facts : survivorship of Red Kangaroo young to weaning and its effect on population dynamics, Amanda Bilton, UNSW).
“Kangaroos continue to be killed during the drought" If NSW drops quota and/ or decreases quota due to climatic conditions, the commercial industry can't survive, as industry needs a constant supply of skins and meat. Reduction of quotas would mean the industry is out of business. We need to keep killing kangaroos even during drought or the kangaroo industry would not and could not survive" (NPWS Neil Ward, KMAC Western Regional Manager July 2, 1997)
The Life and Death of Kangaroos On Monday May 19, 2008, government contractors started killing the kangaroos on a former naval base in Canberra, Australia. By May 29 they (514) were dead…..read more
