Kangaroo key to cutting methane

Like New Zealand, Australia has problems with farmyard flatulence contributing to the output of global-warming greenhouse gases.

But scientists plan to tackle the problem by studying a creature better adapted to local conditions - the kangaroo.

Kangaroos have a similar diet to cattle, but produce no methane, one of the gases implicated in global warming.

Scientists in Queensland believe that bacteria found in kangaroo stomachs, which help them to process their food, could be used to reduce emissions by the nation's 23 million cows and 170 million sheep.

Australia's herds discharge more than 3 million tons of methane a year, accounting for 14 per cent of Australia's output of greenhouse gases.

Researchers have isolated 40 types of bacteria in the eastern grey kangaroo and are screening them to determine which are best at digesting native pasture.

The Queensland Minister for Primary Industries, Henry Palaszczuk, said that the most promising bacteria could be grown in a laboratory and introduced into farmyard animals.

The bacteria are thought to reduce hydrogen, which is linked with the production of methane.

The theory is that kangaroos' microbes have evolved over millions of years to process Australian grasses, while sheep and cattle - which arrived from Europe only two centuries ago - are less efficient.



Methane, produced when animals digest plants, has a global warming potential 21 times greater than carbon dioxide, which is generated by burning fossil fuels.

Australia is responsible for nearly 2 per cent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, although it accounts for only 1 per cent of global economic activity.

Australian scientists are already experimenting with a vaccine that they believe can reduce farmyard emissions by 20 per cent a year.

There has also been talk of imposing a tax on farmers who fail to curb their cattle's flatulence.

The problem is even more acute in New Zealand, where 45 million sheep and eight million cattle are blamed for 44 per cent of locally produced greenhouse gas emissions.

- INDEPENDENT

About the Kangaroo

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