Mrs Little-Higgins wrote to the kind minister in New Zealand and said “Dear Minister, I understand that you have been very helpful to kiwis who do not have many safe places to live and are now endangered. Can you help us? Our kangaroos are also running out of safe places to live and we are worried that they too may become endangered. How can we stop this from happening?”
The minister replied quickly “Dear Mrs Little-Higgins, Thank you for your letter regarding kangaroos. I would be delighted to do anything I can to help. I love animals, especially kangaroos, which sadly I have not been able to see anywhere on my trips to Australia, except in zoos. Perhaps you might like to talk to the President of the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand? They have done a lot of work to help kiwis here in New Zealand.”
The teacher asked Chloe if she and Joey would like to go to New Zealand and meet the President of the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society Of NZ and the kind minister in person to discuss how they could help. Chloe said “Yes please!”
After school she visited Joey and asked him if he wanted to go with her. After all he was now getting bigger and stronger and soon he would be old enough to eat by himself. Joey said yes too because he wanted to save his family’s lives.
Chloe then had to get permission from her parents and Joey’s carer. When Chloe asked Mrs Johnson if it would be all right if she took Joey with her to New Zealand, Mrs Johnson was shocked. “What on earth do you want to put a little kangaroo on a plane for? Do you realise kangaroos can drop dead from stress?”
Chloe replied “Mrs Johnson, we have a very important mission. Firstly, we have to meet with the kind minister to see if he can help convince the mean minister in Australia to help Joey’s family to be relocated. Secondly, we have to find the endangered kiwis and ask them for advice on what to do for kangaroos who are now facing the same dangers as they are. If nothing is done, more mothers like Joey’s will be hit by cars or buses and die. It is important to help them before it is too late. I promise to keep him calm the whole time.”
Mrs Johnson looked tenderly at Joey. Her job was to protect him and already she had put a lot of time into feeding him and making sure he was warm and healthy. He was like a child to her. But she also had to think about the rest of Joey’s family. After all what kind of future would he have if nothing changed?
She took a deep breath and said “Well, Joey is almost old enough to eat by himself so if you promise to take very good care of him and not lose him then it will be all right. But not for another week or two.”
Chloe then asked her parents “Mum, Dad, my teacher at school asked me if Joey and I would go all by ourselves to New Zealand to meet the President of Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of NZ and the kind minister. We need to talk to them about how they can help us with our kangaroos”.
Her parents said “Chloe, don’t be ridiculous. Of course you can’t go by yourself!
You’re too young. We would have to come with you to make sure you are safe”.
But Chloe knew that it would not work. She said “Mum, Dad, don’t worry. I will stay with adults who will look after me. This is my mission, I can’t think of anything more important to do than helping these kangaroos. Please let me go!” Her eyes were full of tears and ready to burst like a dam if they said no.
“Chloe, we love you more than anything but we also know how much these kangaroos mean to you. If you promise to be very careful and call us every day so we know you are OK we will let you go,” they finally said. “And be sure to give us the phone number of all the people you will be staying with.”
Chloe’s smile spread from ear to ear. She ran to them and gave them both a big hug. “Thanks Mum! Thanks Dad! I promise I will be really careful.” She then asked
“Can Brooke come with us?”
Brooke’s ears pricked up “Yes Mum, Dad, please let me go too!” Suddenly she remembered something; “Oh no! I can’t go. I have a geography assignment to finish for school. Chloe you know I love kangaroos as much as you do and want to help, don’t you?”
Chloe was disappointed “Yes I know, Brooke. That’s why you are going to university, right?”
“Yes. I want to be the Minister for Tourism when I grow up. If I can get the government to pay farmers to show tourists wild kangaroos living on their farms instead of shooting them it will save a lot of kangaroos. The more kangaroos and bushland on their farms, the more they will be paid. Farmers will learn to appreciate and value kangaroos much more if they are paid not to shoot them,” she said.
“What about the farmers who don’t want to do that? asked Chloe.
“Then the government would pay to have special fences built so that no kangaroos can get into their farms,” replied Brooke matter-of-factly. “But not those horrible barbed wire fences though. I would make it illegal to have barbed-wire fences because besides kangaroos, many other animals including birds, flying foxes, bats, owls, gliders and possums get entangled in these fences. No matter how much they struggle they can’t get out. It’s terrifying for them and they can be badly ripped up and eventually die from their injuries, if they aren’t rescued.”
“How did you learn all that?” quizzed Chloe.
“At school, dummy” said her older sister. “It’s a very long, slow and cruel death. All farms should have electric fences, ordinary wire or wood fences, or fences with a special roller on top. The fences would have to be high enough so that even the biggest kangaroo couldn’t jump over them.”
“Sounds like you’ve got it all worked out Brooke” said her father, tapping his forehead, impressed that his daughter was thinking about solutions for native animals. “Yep, Dad. If they did this, fewer kangaroos would be caught on farm fences so then farmers and animal rescuers would not have the sad job of removing dead or injured kangaroos from their fences,” said Brooke, proud that her father had noticed her intelligence.
“Not to mention how dangerous it could be to remove an injured adult kangaroo from a barbed wire fence,” reminded her father.
Chloe was listening intently “The kangaroos would be happy too because more of them would be able to live safely and happily with everyone in their families. They need their mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, aunties, uncles, cousins, grandfathers and grandmothers just as much as we do!
Her father gave Chloe a big smile while nodding.
Brooke continued “I also read in the library that there is a study that says kangaroos do not cause real damage for farmers and that kangaroos, sheep, cows and other farm animals can live together perfectly well. That means kangaroos are not pests at all.”
At this point Brooke’s father interrupted “I think you’d have a hard time convincing farmers of that, Brooke!”
Brooke continued. “In fact, I read a report that kangaroos actually help to keep the land healthy, but most farmers don’t know this yet, so someone has to educate them.
That is why I am studying so hard. But first I need to get a degree, or they won’t listen to me.”
And she was right. But she had no idea how hard it would be to get farmers to listen, no matter how many studies had been done.
Chloe couldn’t wait years and years for Brooke to finish her schooling. Something had to be done now. That’s why she was going to New Zealand with Joey. Would they be successful? Only time would tell.