A lil’ town in Queensland is under siege from a massive gang of kangaroos, which is both objectively quite funny and genuinely too scary for my mind to comprehend.
The town in question is Maaroom on the Fraser Coast. Now, Maaroom only has 220 permanent residents. I hate to say it but with those stats, it would not be hard for kangaroos to outnumber humans.
According to the ABC, Maaroom is beset with, in its words, a “growing mob of kangaroos” and there can be over 15 kangaroos hanging out on peoples’ lawns at a time. That is too many kangaroos for one lawn.
“There are too many to count, really,” local caravan park manager Karen Sutcliffe told the ABC.
“They’re constantly hopping around the park in between caravans.
“People are walking around with a big stick now.”
Oh my God? Sorry babe, I know you want to go for a gorgeous sunset stroll but let me grab my Kangaroo Scaring Stick first.
For some reason I’m imagining Steve Harrington’s nail-studded basketball bat from Stranger Things. Fingers crossed it’s something a little less violent.
Also, I feel like beefing with the kangaroos is not a great way to make them leave you alone?
Queensland’s Department of Environment and Science put out a media release in early August about the roo sitch.
It urged people in Maaroom to steer clear of the kangaroos after a series of attacks over the last year. One of those was an attack on a 67-year-old woman back in July. She ended up in hospital with a broken leg.
Some of the kangaroos that’ve injured people have now been relocated too.
MEDIA RELEASE
Maaroom locals on the Fraser Coast are urged to keep their distance from kangaroos following recent attacks. Wildlife Officers are closely monitoring the roos, which are living in the local area.
Don’t approach or feed kangaroos #QPWShttps://t.co/aaD7GoHAkp pic.twitter.com/CBHAETQPWu— Queensland Environment (@QldEnvironment) August 2, 2022
According to Southern Wildlife Operations manager Frank Mills, the kangaroos are feeding on grass in peoples’ yards.
“We have received advice that some residents have been feeding the kangaroos, which can change the way the kangaroos interact with people,” he said.
Mills also said people had been trying to move kangaroos with gel blasters (!?!) and some had even tried to RUN THEM OVER WITH THEIR CARS (!?!?!?!).
Do not do either of these things! Obviously!
“This type of behaviour is not only an offence but will cause stress to the animals and bring them into conflict with other local residents,” Mills said.
“We’re advising all Maaroom residents that kangaroos can behave unpredictably and to stay away from them.”
In fairness, I can imagine it’s fairly hard to keep a wide berth from an army of roos when they’re hopping about all over town.
But not feeding them and also not trying to hit them with cars both seem like pretty good approaches if you ask me.
The whole thing is absolutely giving The Great Emu War Part Two: The Sort-Of Kangaroo War.
