Against the wishes of many animal rights protesters, many groups in the land down under are advocating a more aggressive approach to dealing with the nation's kangaroo overpopulation problem. This week, the military announced that it will go ahead with efforts to cull the marsupial population surrounding a communications base. About 500 roos living around the base in northern Canberra will be tranquilized and then euthanized to keep the population in check.

The reason: to protect an endangered lizard and protect native grasses, of course. The plans sound a bit suspect, but according to nature authorities, Kangaroos are becoming somewhat of an invasive species -- thriving in many areas where they have no few natural enemies. The result is a plague on local wildlife in the form of hungry kangaroos. Even so, wildlife protection groups aren't likely to side with the efforts -- no matter how bad the overgrazing.

Plans to relocate the kangaroos were denied by the Canberra government on the grounds that they were too expensive and 'inhumane'. While I agree, the new plan does seem a little more cost effective, I can't imagine that killing 500 kangaroos will be viewed by many as a humane alternative. The original plan was just to shoot the jumpers, but it was feared that protesters -- who will be out in full force -- may be hit by ricocheting bullets.