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News Belconnen Kangaroos by Pat O'Brien There are serious animal welfare problems now at Belconnen, with kangaroos separated from their family mobs, and from the water by heavy construction type fences. In one area, a gate has been opened in the fence (after we complained kangaroos were trapped) but opened at a ninety degree angle, and the roos just race back and forwards when trying to find water and shade. I've made two calls to the RSPCA but little has been done, except adding a trough or two, in spite of Defence telling the RSPCA they would investigate. In my view the RSPCA should be prosecuted for allowing this terrible situation to develop. Unfortunatley there is still some confusion in the public mind, as the ACT government has been telling lies about the reasons for killing the kangaroos all the way through. Thanks very much to all the residents, animal groups, indigenous elders and everone else, who have helped woman (or man) the Protest Site. And thanks to those who provided some food and water for the protesters. I'm back in Queensland now, but will be on the Protest site again on Sunday to ensure the kangaroos are not killed. Over Easter lots of meetings are being held by all the groups to determine their strategies. While leaving the kangaroos alone in a Kangaroo Park is always the best option, if they have to go, they must be relocated, not killed. Some groups quite rightly have reservations about the ability of the contracters to be able to safely relocate the kangaroos. The kill is expected to take place Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday next week. Please support the protestors on the Kangaroo Protest Site Belconnen (Baldwin Drive, off Ginninderra Drive) if you can. Please dont forget to visit the website http://www.canberraroos.com for updates, and if you havent signed the Petition please do so. Kangaroo farts to save the world The world is freaked out about climate change, global warming, and greenhouse gasses, and it could be up to skippy and his stomach juices to save the day. We all know kangaroos are pretty special, but it is their lack of flatulence, or more precisely the lack of methane emissions, that has researchers excited. While they eat pretty much the same thing, cows end up producing a lot of methane, and kangaroos don't. Researchers think a whopping 10 percent of Australian greenhouse gas emissions could be permanently eliminated if scientists can introduce microbes found in the stomach of kangaroos into livestock feed. Dr Athol Klieve is a senior research scientist in microbial biotechnology at the DPI, "When you ferment grass in the stomach like kangaroos do, they produce hydrogen, and you have to get rid of that hydrogen, or it slows down and stops the fermentation of the material...The production of methane is actually one solution to the problem of getting rid of hydrogen...There are alternative mechanisms of getting rid of that of that hydrogen. One of these is to produce acetate. Acetate is used by the animal as a major part of its energy resources. “We have been able to isolate a number of species of bacteria that do take hydrogen through to acetate and it is those bacteria that we hope to be able to move across to sheep and cattle, to bring down the methane emissions in sheep and cattle”, Dr Athol Klieve. And it is not only the atmosphere that will be able to breathe a sigh of relief, farmers could save feed money, “Methane is actually a loss of feed energy. It is an inefficient use of your feed. If you can, instead of using that feed energy as methane to the atmosphere and causing greenhouse problem, if you can convert that to something like acetate, that is more energy available for the animal for growth and production”, Dr Athol Klieve. Ref: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1573261/posts

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Course Description	Course Location	Date	Contact	Enkoded email to reduce spam
Marsupial Training	Pilbara	May 08	Joanne Waterstrom Muller
Marsupial Training	Exmouth	May 08	Sue Ferrari
Marsupial Training	Tasmania	Early June 08	Oma Rodger
Marsupial Training	Cape Otway, Victoria	Mid June 08	Lorraine O'Brien

You can contact Lynda by phone on 07-49551904

I am a lecturer and author pertaining to the Rearing, Rehabilitation, Management, Care, Clinical Signs and Treatment of Disease of Australian Marsupials.

I have been caring for injured/orphaned/sick marsupials for the past 20 years and operated a wildlife hospital at my private wildlife sanctuary in Queensland between the years of 1991 to 2000. During this period I was able to ascertain and verify the many clinical signs and successful treatments associated with various diseases and ailments of predominantly macropods.

Professor Rick Speare is my mentor and it was his original work on macropod disease that induced me to begin compiling my findings.

In 2000, I relocated and began donating more of my time to educating carer groups with my four-day lectures, completing a lecture tour of six Australian States in 2001-2002.

In 2002 I was sponsored to speak at the Macropod Conference in Ohio, U.S.A.

Whilst in the States, I was invited to work in an Australian themed wildlife park in Kentucky, U.S.A. I was able to carry out this request during 2003-2004; where I had a very fulfilling working relationship with the local veterinarian.
My responsibilities included designing and erecting new exhibits, educating the animal keepers, designing appropriate diets for the 300 odd animals species and researching information for the publication of the Animal Keepers' training manual.

To date I have conducted 62 lectures to wildlife carer groups, veterinarians and wildlife park keepers throughout six states of Australia.

My old manual Don't Step Backwards is used in nine countries throughout the world by zoos, wildlife carers, and veterinarians and in the States by not only zookeepers but also the many people who have macropods in captivity. I have been available for assistance to macropod keepers through the yahoo on-line wallaby group for the past 4 years.

My new manual The Complete Guide to The Care of Macropods is now available after two years of compiling the information and creating the manual.

As always I am available for assistance via e-mail and telephone on 07-49551904.
Lynda Staker

Here is a list of pages within our site.
Why care about kangaroos and macropods
Kangaroo marsupial supplies (accessories)
Pet supplies
A poem about a joey
Kangaroo care and tips on caring for kangaroo with illness and diseases
Learn about caring for kangaroos
Interesting facts about kangaroo
Questions and answers about joeys and marsupials
Lynda Stakers lectures on marsupial caring you can attend
The Complete Guide to The Care of Macropods manual by Lynda Staker
Roo Products milk
Some common myths about Kangaroos
News items
A newsletter about macropods
Kangaroo feed
A collection of Kangaroo photos pictures
Main roo products page
A page showing useful marsupial links
Free papers on animal care

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