The Economic Introduction of the Kangaroo in America [pp. 164-169]

lThe Kangaroo in America.
allabatus, or swamp wallaby, whose
skin is highly prized in America. Al though it is called swamp wallaby, it
lives chiefly on the grassy slopes of
Queensland, where there is plenty of
green grass all the year round, and
moisture. Its fur is brown and very long.
Of course, you will know, the colder
the climate the longer the fur.
I have found the kangaroo, when
tame, docile, lazy, and quiet, fond of
sugar and bread, and easy to handle.
The bucks when fed by hand get very
fat and will lie in the sun for hours. A
flock of twenty head were a perfect
nuisance on one estate; they got so
quiet, and were continually about the
house.
For breeding I would suggest the
fencing in of some plains or slightly
timbered country, with ranges at the
back, and in a fairly cold, well-grassed
country. Both the species I mentioned
could be bred together. All species
breed alike, about one every ten or
twelve months, and at twelve to eighteen months the skins are worth taking,
but if left for a longer period would be
more valuable in proportion. Sometimes they have two young ones at a
birth, but very rarely.
Of course, the only expense would be
the first cost of fencing. I would suggest the usual wire netting, six feet
high, as the best style of fencing.
They want no management, no one to
look after them. The fence would
occasionally require looking to. If
some unoccupied land could be got, or
land not suitable for other stock, that
would be the very thing, as there would
be no expense but fencing incurred.
I have never tried rearing the kangaroo on artificial food, but in the Royal
Park, Melbourne, my friend, Mr. Lee
Sonef, the Director, had several I forwarded him living on maize, grass, and
bread. They have grown wonderfully.
That they will breed freely in captivity
is also noticed, as they have been breed
ing white ones for years at the Royal
Park, Melbourne. It may take some
time to breed up a sufficient quantity,
but once they get, say, five hundred,
they would then multiply in a surpris ing manner.
There is, at present, a law enforced
at Tasmania, prohibiting the kangaroo
from being killed under a certain age
and during certain periods, and South
Australia has brought in, or is about to
bring in, a similar law. They have
been killed at so surprisingly rapid a
rate, that they are beginning to get
scarce, and have been cleared off in
some districts.
BUT can they be easily acclimated in
this country? I think there is no doubt
as to that. "Kangaroos easily accom modate themselves to captivity," says
Louis Figuier; "they bear the climate
of Europe perfectly, and breed freely
in our menageries. It would be very
desirable, therefore, to encourage by all
means in our power their multiplication in our country (France), as they
have begun to do in England." It is
mentioned in the "New Statistical Account," published in I838, that Sir
Charles Forbes, Bart., of Newe, Strathdon, Aberdeenshire, introduced some
kangaroo into that severe part of Scotland. It is said of them: "They seemed
to experience no inconvenience from
the rigor of the climate, and fed readily
on grass and vegetables in summer, and
on hay with occasional green food in
winter. Unfortunately they were both
of the same sex. It would have been
interesting to have ascertained whether
they had been so far naturalized as to
have bred in the head of Aberdeenshire." In the same county, but in the
lowland portion, several frisky specimens of Macropus used to be objects
of great interest to travelers on the
railway that passed close to the ground
of Pitmeddan House, the seat of the
Thompsons, ship-owners in the Austra
[Aug.
168