What do you get when you mix a kangaroo, an elderly woman, and a pair of police officers in a sleepy Outback town? One very interesting story!

Last Sunday, a rogue kangaroo attacked Phyllis Johnson, 94, while she hung laundry in her backyard. Phyllis, who suffered mostly cuts and bruises, told the Courier-Mail from hospital in Charleville, Queensland that she tried to fight the marauding marsupial off with a broom:

I thought it was going to kill me. It was taller than me and it just plowed through the clothes on the washing line straight for me.

After being knocked down she crawled back to her house and her son called the police. Charleville police chief Senior-Sargent Stephen Perkins said his officers were forced to pepper-spray the kangaroo to avoid being injured as well.

Australians living in the nation's drought-ravaged capital have been warned to keep their distance from aggressive kangaroos after the iconic marsupials attacked one woman and killed a pet dog.

Eastern Grey kangaroos, which can grow 1.7 meters (5.6 feet) tall and weigh 70 kg (154 lb), have started moving out of the parched bush into inner Canberra suburbs during the day to look for grass and water, increasing their contact with people.

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According to this report, an axe-wielding Australian was forced to employ an axe against a kangaroo in self-defense. The 'roo might well have had a history of such attacks.

The RSPCA is threatening legal action over a decision by the Defence Department to drastically reduce the kangaroo population at Puckapunyal military training base north of Melbourne.

The base - and the kangaroos living there - are enclosed by an electric fence. Officials have determined that the 36,000 kangaroos have an inadequate food supply and must be culled to prevent starvation. A minimum of 15,000 and as many as 30,000 'roos are to be killed by the end of August. More than 20,000 Eastern Greys were shot at the base last year.

Animal activists acknowledge the need to prevent suffering but are opposed to such massive reductions and point out that the fence is the real problem.

While at the movie theatre the other night I caught a glimpse of a trailer for "Kangaroo Jack". While I don't expect this to be a masterpiece of cinematography, the presence of the film's main character will most likely compensate... take a look at http://kangaroojack.warnerbros.com/

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/world/DailyNews/australia020208_kangaroo.html

"In a copyright claim currently ruffling feathers - and furs - across Australia, Kevin Buzzacott,
an Aboriginal elder, has claimed that Qantas cannot use the flying kangaroo as a mascot
without the permission of the marsupial's indigenous 'owners.'"

Submitters comment: This is total BS!

Jarlidium Press is announcing plans and actively soliciting submissions for a new fanzine title, ROOTOPIA, a publication dedicated to fans and enthusiasts of kangaroos and other marsupials. Text stories, illustrations, comics, kangaroos in the news, and photos of the real animals will be included in this 64 page digest sized fanzine. Reproduction will be done in 256 greyscale black and white interiors with cardstock covers. Jarlidium Press has a lot of experience in producing high quality publications including Hot To Trot, Dallas Brawl Update, Dela The Hooda collections, Three Apples, and North American Fur.