We have been visiting our daughter and her family who live in the Central Highlands of Queensland. They are 200 km west of Rockhampton, 800 km north west of Brisbane and about 1100 km from where we live. It's in the middle of Queensland's coal mining district, with many open cut mines operating over a large area. Unfortunately, the world price of coal, and the demand from the likes of China, have dropped dramatically, causing many mines to lay off staff. This is having a big effect on Blackwater and similar towns as people are being made redundant and leaving.
Our van is parked in our daughter's back yard, and behind it is a large open area of farmland. There are quite a few kangaroos, and the 2 shown below were only about 50 metres from the van, over the back fence, they are a female and her quite big joey. Our daughter tells me she has seen as many as 30 roos at a time, and there were actually another 4 or 5 with these two, but they were laying down in the long grass, and can't be seen.
It was reported that a large grey kangaroo, which had become something of an attraction at the local hospital, was shot and killed by some idiot a couple of nights ago. It used to look through the hospital windows, and graze in the grounds. It posed no threat, and was regarded almost as a pet by the hospital employees. The police are investigating this senseless killing.
Two other photos of roos were taken when we visited Glenlyon Dam, near Tenterfield NSW, a couple of years ago. They were relatively tame, and I was able to get close enough to take some shots. There are millions of kangaroos in Australia, yet because most of the human population live in major cities, they only see them when travelling in country areas, or in zoos and wildlife parks. Roos can be pests to farmers in grain growing and grazing regions as they can do considerable damage to crops or pasture.
Peter.