THE KANGAROO.

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 405, 12 April 1937, Page 7

THE KANGAROO.

IN BRITISH NEWS. ! Can It Be Acclimatized? \ The kangaroo has come into the ! i news in Britain, and on the question j J whether the marsupial can be accliro \ I atlsed in a v ild state in Scotland’, the i ’ London Tim 's hat been provoked to j J publish a leading article in an tin- | I usually' light vein—light for that gen- < erally austere journal. The ari'cle . After the distressing experience of ; the wolves in Oxfordshire (where • three escaped from a zoo and were < shot) it is good news that the climate of Scotland is highly suitable for kangaroos. One that escaped some six months apo from a .private estate has just been recaptured all the stronger for bring on his own, broader in the chest, longer and higher in the bound. Kangaroos, it seems, are not hothouse plants, to 'be reared precariously’ in private parks, under the permanent threat of chill and lung trouble. Give them theii freedom and the hard spur of being on one’s own in Scoti land and they Will thrive. There is a climatic warmth about : Scotland which caused the proposal to be put forward, some years ago, that its rivers could profitably breed crocodiles as well as salmon. But kangaroo? are a much more amiable prospect. Their first experiences of men did not encourage them to expect too much, and we may be grateful to the Australian aborigines and to the first reluctant white settlers of Australia for teaching kangaroos not to attempt any libert'es. Soup or Hide? -As a result of their strict upbringing few animals have nicer dispositions, and the main question on where this pos: ible new phase of Empire settlement ought, to turn is. how to keep the kangaroos safe if they do come. Unfortunately their hides, which are well adapted to mrny purposes, make particularly good purses. The Scotsman who overcomes therein ptation to make kangaroo tall soup, regarding no strange a dish as an exotic luxury will less easily resist the visions of a deep and imperishable purse. What will best endear the kangaroo to the Scotsman is his theological connections. N< t himself theologically minded, the kangaroo has been the cause of theology in others, and is credited in certain aboriginal qtiar ters with the treation of the world —valleys, in particular, having been formed where 1 e rested his tail. It. is, of course, true that a good many animals have at different times been believed to be mainly, or in large part, responsible for the world: but, owing to ifeography, the kangaroo has played singularly little part in northern, hemisphere arguments, and his presence will suggest new ideas to the most erudite elders. Natural Boxing. The kangaroo reconciles, in his own fashion, science and religion by being also an adept at a noble art. Here again he should have a special ' appeal for Scotland, for he boxes without any fireliminary difficulties about large gt aranteed gates, or ar least he will do so if he has not been commercialised under contract. Mr D. R. Jardine has just expressed his doubts whether international cricket is a good thing, and has declared 1 itnself much more interested in big game hunting. Kangaroos are not very big game, and it is rather the first part of this expression of views which affects them. If cricket matches are not all they might be as Imperial ties, an interchange of localised animals is the most effective Empire propaganda. It is no disparagement of the good looks of the 40,000,000 inhabitants of Great Britain to say that a composite picture of thei- super-imposed features would arouse less affection in the Dominions that the picture of a benevolent and i agacious lion. Those who planned the Nelson column did well to send for Landseer instead of for Tuisaud, and the Australian will be well advised to recognise that the I angaroo is better value to the eyes than man, even than bronzed and handsome Australian man.