Kangaroo Footprints:
The Kangaroo is recognised world wide as a symbol of Australia.
Six macropod species have already become extinct in the past 200 years
and a number of species are listed as endangered or threatened.
angaroos belong to the family of animals known as macropods, which means
‘big foot’.
The macropod family contains around fifty species of kangaroos
and their relatives ranging from the 90kg Red Kangaroo to the small
Musky Rat-Kangaroo at half a kilo. They are found all over Australia and
live in many diverse habitats. You can learn more about kangaroos and have
fun doing lots of puzzles in the book - Kangaroo Footprints.
Chloe and Joey Meet a Very Wise Kiwi:
Chloe was worried. A mob of 26 kangaroos in her town, Mill Park, were
about to be killed because their homes were needed by new developments.
She and her classmates wrote letters to the government pleading for the
kangaroos’ lives, but they were ignored. She wrote “Dear Minister, I’m
really angry and sad. It feels like I’m going to cry” and it was published
in the Whittlesea Leader newspaper in Victoria.
After befriending Joey, whose mother was killed by the school bus, Chloe
had a cunning plan to fly to New Zealand and find out how the kiwi (New
Zealand’s national icon) managed to get support from the New Zealand
people and government. In the South Island they met a kiwi and asked him
all their questions. What the kiwi told them was a really important
message to the Australian government and people.
To help them make this
message heard, the kiwi gave them a magic green stone. Immediately Joey
was able to speak English Everyone was amazed – whoever heard of a talking
kangaroo? At last, kangaroos had a way of conveying their terrible plight
as the world’s most massacred land-based wildlife.
What would they do next? Would they be able to persuade the government in
Australia to save this mob in time? Find out by ordering your copy here.
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