That kangaroo isn’t crying, he’s horny
A photo of what appears to be a “grieving male kangaroo grasping on to the dying mother of a nearby joey” has been doing the rounds in the Aussie media today.
It’s published by a number of outlets including the Daily Mail, Guardian, New Daily and most notably News Corp Courier Mail, which splashed with it under the heartfelt headline “Tender-roo”.
The photo was taken by Hervey Bay local Evan Switzer who told the media: “The kangaroo tried to lift her up and she wouldn’t stand, she’d just fall to the ground. He’d nudge her, stand beside her … it was a pretty special thing. He was just mourning the loss of his mate.”
Heartfelt stuff. Unfortunately it would appear none of these outlets thought to contact an animal expert to ask what was actually happening….
After seeing the pictures The Australian Museum’s principal research scientist Dr Mark Eldridge posted a blog explaining actually “they’re far more sinister” than they appear.
Eldridge explains what appears to be the male lovingly “cradling the head” of the female as she dies, is actually him in a state of sexual arousal.
“Great photos of the kangaroos, but I think they are fundamentally misinterpreted,” Dr Eldridge writes.
“The male is clearly highly stressed and agitated, his forearms are very wet from him licking himself to cool down. He is also sexually aroused: the evidence is here sticking out from behind the scrotum (yes in marsupials the penis is located behind the scrotum).”
He adds: “This is a male trying to get a female to stand up so he can mate with her.”
Ah. That certainly puts a different context on the quote from the man who took the photos Switzer who rather unfortunately told the Courier Mail: “When I came back, they were still there. The male would have been doing it for an hour or so.”
Even better is the spin it puts on some of the comments posted on social media around the “heartbreaking” images:
Maybe the headline should have been “Tender loving roo”.
That’s rubbish. A male kangaroo can tell a dying female kangaroo from one on heat. You just don’t want to admit animals are sentient beings with personalities and emotions.
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Zeitgeist, are you for real? You’re going to run with your own misguided opinion over that of an expert? I understand that people like to “impose” human emotions onto animals, but to blatantly insist on it when an academic refutes it is just ridiculous. What on earth are you basing your opinion on?
“You just don’t want to admit animals are sentient beings with personalities and emotions”. Yep, you caught em! Mumbrella is at the forefront of a global conspiracy to change the way we understand animals.
Some people are just unreal…
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Mumbrella should have sought Zeitgeist for comment. S/he is a foremost expert in their opinion.
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The expert is not denying Kangaroo’s are sentient being withs emotions.
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Maybe he knew she was dying but figured ‘what the hell? one last time?’
That would cover both camps.
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Zeitgeist, it’s not uncommon for a female kangaroo to be pursued by many male kangaroos, to the point where she is injured and/or dies. She may have been mated to death. The Guardian article mentions this.
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Zeitgeist we are aghast at your fatuity.
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There are plenty of proven examples of animals showing what humans understand as ‘grief’ toward a dead companion. Whatever the reasons he is doing what he is doing, this one scenario proves nothing either way. And who says we understand the sexual vs emotional line in the animal kingdom anyway.
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In the lead up to Australia Day, this couldn’t be more un-un-Australian; absolutely brilliant.
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