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Roos have right of way at Environment Day
Those attending the World Environment Day Festival at the University of the Sunshine Coast on Sunday 28 June will be asked to hop out of the way of the resident kangaroos.
Festival organisers have carefully planned the event’s stalls and activities to preserve a corridor through the University’s grounds for the eastern grey kangaroos to continue their normal activities.
More than 7,000 people are expected to attend the festival, which will feature sustainable lifestyle demonstrations, a Green Biz Expo, a farmers’ market, stalls, entertainment and displays.
The University has paid particular consideration to the kangaroo population, which moves freely between the Sippy Downs campus and the adjacent Mooloolah River National Park, even before USC officially opened in 1996.
There is a 20km/h maximum speed limit for vehicles on campus, domestic animals are prohibited, and a 1.8m-high fence has been built along Sippy Downs Drive to discourage kangaroos from entering the Sunshine Motorway.
Numbers have grown from around 30 kangaroos in 1994 to more than 100 today, with lots of joeys and juveniles among them.
Visitors to USC are advised to keep their distance from the kangaroos as the animals can become aggressive toward each other around breeding time.
Eastern grey kangaroos can grow to more than 1.5 metres in height. They can jump up to nine metres in one bound and reach speeds of up to 48km/h.
— Terry Walsh