Kangaroo

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Tuesday officially designated 33,295 acres in San Bernardino and Riverside counties as critical habitat for the endangered San Bernardino kangaroo rat. The move means development projects proposed within the habitat area will have to clear higher hurdles to obtain some permits from federal agencies, according to environmentalists and county officials. The designation takes effect May 23.

This week, as early as today, the Bush administration will release the long-awaited rules for its new military tribunals. The rules contain some significant changes. Officials hope that these concessions will convince reluctant allies and critics that this is not the "kangaroo court" that has been portrayed worldwide. However, these concessions do little to change the structure of the tribunal as a makeshift court designed to produce predictable convictions.

Animal rights groups criticized Australia's decision to let farmers kill 6.9 million kangaroos this year, up from 5.5 million last year. An Environment Ministry official said the new quota was based on advice from the ministry and an independent scientific committee. Farmers obtain licenses to kill kangaroos to prevent damage to plants. But animal rights groups say the kills provide meat for pet food. The population of the four most common species of kangaroo is estimated to top 50 million.

A suspect considered to be Southern California's most wanted bank robber, known as the Kangaroo Bandit, was indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury on four counts of holding up financial institutions. Cain Vincent Dyer is believed to be responsible for at least 24 bank robberies throughout Southern California in 19 months, according to federal law enforcement officials.

It is tempting to liken him to smoke. He coils in and out of view, his presence an omen of danger. Then he evaporates into a sunlit afternoon, while those left behind wonder what it is they have just seen. He is, however, the opposite of ghostly. Many have seen this man up close--while he ordered them to the floor, his gun pointed at their heads. Nameless so far, he is considered the most wanted bank robber in California.

Today is Boxing Kangaroo Day in Australia. No, we are not making this up. Australians attending Olympic events on this "holiday" have been asked to wear boxing kangaroo T-shirts, which can be purchased on virtually every street corner. The crowd at the Olympic Stadium will be serenaded by the Boxing Kangaroo choir. It's about time kangaroos had their day. Australians like kangaroos, except when they're running into them with their cars.

It takes 12 minutes to ride the ferry from the Sydney Opera House to Taronga Zoo, which is not to be confused with the Jeff Tarango Zoo, although that soon will be here too. Sydneysiders, warn your children now. Unlike the Tarango Zoo, which features a particularly high-strung American mammal known for its erratic behavior on tennis playing surfaces, the Taronga Zoo houses mostly docile animals, including small kangaroos children can pet.

No, Australia, site of the upcoming Summer Olympics, isn't the way you think it is, especially if your frame of reference is "Crocodile Dundee." "People always ask where the kangaroos are, as if they'd be in the streets or something," Debbie Moore, a concierge at the Sydney Hilton, told the Orlando Sentinel. "I mean, do I see cowboys in the streets when I go to New York? Do I see camels when I go to Kuwait? I don't think so. And I don't know how to throw a boomerang so don't ask me that, either."

He's been dubbed the "Kangaroo Bandit" because he scoops his loot into a backpack that he wears on his chest. In a year, he has robbed 21 banks throughout Southern California. On Thursday, the anniversary of his first score in Tustin, the FBI announced a $15,000 reward for information leading to his arrest and conviction. "We desperately need the public's assistance," said FBI Agent Dan Bondony. "The sooner he gets off the streets, the better it is for everyone."

For Australia-bound travelers seeking close encounters with the weird and wonderful wildlife Down Under, Kangaroo Island offers great opportunities. Penguins burrow in coastal shelters, koalas can be seen munching away in eucalyptus trees, and the kangaroos are so numerous in one national park that fences have been added around picnic tables so you can eat in peace. On a specially protected beach, you can walk among a colony of massive lazing sea lions.