Kangaroo cute

It is probably not very important in these days of Mideast conflict and East-West nuclear confrontation, but there has been a news item announcing kangaroos are off the endangered species list.

People are still on it, but kangaroos are off. They had been only a hop, skip, and a jump from extinction. They are not totally out of danger. But the kangaroo population is said to be stabilized.

This means that either people are eliminating fewer kangaroos, or more are being born. Or it could indicate that either people or kangaroos are getting smarter.

The kangaroo got off to a bad start with people, because kangaroo skin is very popular for handbags, suitcases, and golf bags. It is easy to see how this idea of carrying things around in a kangaroo skin began. The kangaroo invented it. One could say the animal has only itself to blame.

The case for kangaroos is something like that for baby seals, beavers, and birds with pretty feathers. If they all weren't so cute and lovable, people wouldn't endanger them. By contrast, sharks aren't on the endangered list. They are too ugly.

Kangaroos have always been a borderline case as far as cuteness goes, and no doubt that is why saving them is suddenly possible.

It now seems quite plausible that, for the sake of whatever kangaroos are left, golf clubs could be carried in another kind of pouch. Either that, or leave the kangaroos alive and train them as caddies.

In addition, kangaroos might even be able to drive golf carts. But one has to be careful. It wouldn't do, for instance, to have them learn to play golf. They would tend to get uppity.

And that would put them right back on the list again.