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I drove from Melbourne to Adelaide and back last weekend, a round trip of around 1500 km. I ended up driving both directions at night. There were half a dozen n

I drove from Melbourne to Adelaide and back last weekend, a round trip of around 1500 km. I ended up driving both directions at night. There were half a dozen near misses with kangaroos. I also had to dodge at least half a dozen dead kangaroos on the road. The big problem with them is that usually there isn't a single kangaroo to try and dodge on the road, but several at once. The recommended course of action upon encountering a roo on the road is to just keep driving straight. If you try and dodge it, you're just more likely to crash your car and just as likely to hit a kangaroo. They're big enough to cause a lot of damage to a car too. They're absolutely a pest, and there are unnaturally high numbers of them from eating crops. Culling keeps the population down to healthy numbers. I think that most opposition to culling is because they're Australia's national animal. Nobody complains about culling foxes and goats. I also don't see how culling is any less ethical than farming cows or sheep. Also, this is an interesting quote: > There may be no animal and nation in the world more closely identified. I'd argue that New Zealand and Kiwis are much more closely identified, to the point that New Zealand and Kiwi are literally synonymous. If someone asks me what nationality I am, I'd say "Kiwi" before I said "New Zealander". Never heard an Aussie refer to themselves as a roo.

red_dinosaur 8y ago
Perhaps it's also a language thing? In my native language, Kangaroos are closely associated with Australia, but New Zealanders are never called Kiwis.
- philliphaydon 8y ago
  New Zealanders tend to refer to themselves as kiwis. But outside of NZ I hear a mix of Kiwi vs New Zealander. In Singapore I was asked if it’s ok to refer to me and a Kiwi because they thought it may be a racist term.
  - toomanybeersies 8y ago
    I've had people ask me if "Kiwi" is a racist term too. I've always thought it was such a strange concept that someone might think it's racist. But then again, I guess it's racist to call French people frogs, so I can understand how someone would come to the conclusion that it's racist to call someone a Kiwi.
    - Yetanfou 8y ago
      Neither 'frog' nor 'kiwi' are racist [1]: racism 1 Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior. This abuse of the word better stop soon or people will start wearing T-shirts with 'racist and proud of it' in sheer frustration from being called 'racist' at the drop of a hat. [1] https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/racism https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/racism
      - mikekchar 8y ago
        Not to stoke the fires here, but I assume you are referring to the fact that being from France or being from New Zealand does not indicate any particular race, and so the terms (meaning someone from France/NewZealand) can not denote "racism". However, I think it's generally the case that when people use the term "racist", they mean "derogatory based on the origin of the person", and not necessarily their race. Language is flexible and people use terms in common usage which is does not adhere to prescriptive definitions. I have to admit being quite pedantic myself, but have come to accept looser definitions of words as I get older. As long as I understand what the person is intending to say, I try not to worry about what they actually said. This has helped me communicate with people greatly. YMMV.
        Yetanfou 8y ago
        The problem is that the 'racist' label is so poisonous in our (western-European, north-American) culture that it is being used to silence others, no matter whether they actually are racist or not. It does not take much to be called 'racist', sometimes drinking a glass of milk is enough [1,2]. [1] https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/milk-white-supremacy-racism_us_5bffad35e4b0864f4f6a3e28 https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/milk-white-supremacy-ra... [2] https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/17/us/white-supremacists-science-dna.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/17/us/white-supremacists-sci...
    - orwin 8y ago
      Frog or Froggy was never racist to me. It might depend on who's saying it and his/her intentions though.
fraudsyndrome 8y ago
I know someone doing the same drive that hit a kangaroo and left their car written off in the middle of no where - had to wait for a call to come out for someone to pick them up.
ab5tract 8y ago
Is there any move towards building dedicated animal crossing bridges? These have been proving very successful where deployed in the US.
- toomanybeersies 8y ago
  I'm not sure how practical that would be for kangaroos. How do you get roos to use the bridge instead of just using the road? Also, I'm pretty sure they like hanging out on the road, because the road traps heat and stays warmer at night.
  - ComputerGuru 8y ago
    > How do you get roos to use the bridge instead of just using the road? The same way they got wolves, deer, oppossums, raccoons, coyotes, dogs, elk, and more to do it? They’re mainly underground tunnels or overpasses that are covered in natural materials, free of scary, fast, roaring machines, etc
    - paranoidrobot 8y ago
      Kangaroos roam widely, and in open farmland will not use fixed paths, so they'll cross anywhere they please. You would have to put up extremely tall barriers along all the roads, which is an expense I think most people would be unwilling to fund.
    - toomanybeersies 8y ago
      I'm pretty sure roos actually like hanging out on the road. Often they seem to just be standing around on the road until I light them up with my headlights and they start moving.
- petecox 8y ago
  For slower moving marsupials such as koalas, yes. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-36891868 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-36891868
interfixus 8y ago
I have driven across Australia several times. Parts of the Nullarbor at night was like playing Space Invaders - the roos just kept on coming, probably in the thousands. I didn't hit any, just like I don't hit animals when driving here at home. As with everything else in traffic, it's all about keeping your eyes peeled, your attention focused, and your driving speed sensibly adjusted to conditions.

red_dinosaur 8y ago

Perhaps it's also a language thing? In my native language, Kangaroos are closely associated with Australia, but New Zealanders are never called Kiwis.

philliphaydon 8y ago
New Zealanders tend to refer to themselves as kiwis. But outside of NZ I hear a mix of Kiwi vs New Zealander. In Singapore I was asked if it’s ok to refer to me and a Kiwi because they thought it may be a racist term.
- toomanybeersies 8y ago
  I've had people ask me if "Kiwi" is a racist term too. I've always thought it was such a strange concept that someone might think it's racist. But then again, I guess it's racist to call French people frogs, so I can understand how someone would come to the conclusion that it's racist to call someone a Kiwi.
  - Yetanfou 8y ago
    Neither 'frog' nor 'kiwi' are racist [1]: racism 1 Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior. This abuse of the word better stop soon or people will start wearing T-shirts with 'racist and proud of it' in sheer frustration from being called 'racist' at the drop of a hat. [1] https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/racism https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/racism
    - mikekchar 8y ago
      Not to stoke the fires here, but I assume you are referring to the fact that being from France or being from New Zealand does not indicate any particular race, and so the terms (meaning someone from France/NewZealand) can not denote "racism". However, I think it's generally the case that when people use the term "racist", they mean "derogatory based on the origin of the person", and not necessarily their race. Language is flexible and people use terms in common usage which is does not adhere to prescriptive definitions. I have to admit being quite pedantic myself, but have come to accept looser definitions of words as I get older. As long as I understand what the person is intending to say, I try not to worry about what they actually said. This has helped me communicate with people greatly. YMMV.
      - Yetanfou 8y ago
        The problem is that the 'racist' label is so poisonous in our (western-European, north-American) culture that it is being used to silence others, no matter whether they actually are racist or not. It does not take much to be called 'racist', sometimes drinking a glass of milk is enough [1,2]. [1] https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/milk-white-supremacy-racism_us_5bffad35e4b0864f4f6a3e28 https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/milk-white-supremacy-ra... [2] https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/17/us/white-supremacists-science-dna.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/17/us/white-supremacists-sci...
  - orwin 8y ago
    Frog or Froggy was never racist to me. It might depend on who's saying it and his/her intentions though.

fraudsyndrome 8y ago

I know someone doing the same drive that hit a kangaroo and left their car written off in the middle of no where - had to wait for a call to come out for someone to pick them up.

ab5tract 8y ago

Is there any move towards building dedicated animal crossing bridges? These have been proving very successful where deployed in the US.

toomanybeersies 8y ago
I'm not sure how practical that would be for kangaroos. How do you get roos to use the bridge instead of just using the road? Also, I'm pretty sure they like hanging out on the road, because the road traps heat and stays warmer at night.
- ComputerGuru 8y ago
  > How do you get roos to use the bridge instead of just using the road? The same way they got wolves, deer, oppossums, raccoons, coyotes, dogs, elk, and more to do it? They’re mainly underground tunnels or overpasses that are covered in natural materials, free of scary, fast, roaring machines, etc
  - paranoidrobot 8y ago
    Kangaroos roam widely, and in open farmland will not use fixed paths, so they'll cross anywhere they please. You would have to put up extremely tall barriers along all the roads, which is an expense I think most people would be unwilling to fund.
  - toomanybeersies 8y ago
    I'm pretty sure roos actually like hanging out on the road. Often they seem to just be standing around on the road until I light them up with my headlights and they start moving.
petecox 8y ago
For slower moving marsupials such as koalas, yes. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-36891868 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-36891868

interfixus 8y ago

I have driven across Australia several times. Parts of the Nullarbor at night was like playing Space Invaders - the roos just kept on coming, probably in the thousands. I didn't hit any, just like I don't hit animals when driving here at home. As with everything else in traffic, it's all about keeping your eyes peeled, your attention focused, and your driving speed sensibly adjusted to conditions.