CANBERRA, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Kangaroos are resorting to desperate and extreme behaviour to cope with Australia's drought, according to ecologists.
As the continent prepares for a sweltering summer following another dry winter, experts have shared concerns that kangaroos are dying in their millions.
Vicki-Lee Wilson, manager of the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary in South Australia (SA), said that some watering points in the outback have run dry for the first time in recorded history.
"We've got several waterholes that we thought were permanent, which have now been dry for a year and a half," she said,according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Saturday.
"What water is left in waterholes is really putrid, so it's just terrible."
University of NSW ecologist Katherine Moseby said that she has seen kangaroos desperate for food across the country.
"Last summer, we had a massive die-off of kangaroos in all the areas where I worked in the arid zones but, in particular, some of the areas in the Flinders Ranges," she said.
"We were seeing them going into the public toilets and eating toilet paper.
"We're even witnessing them eating the stomachs of dead kangaroos on the side of the road, trying to get some nutrition out of the corpses. It was really quite upsetting and quite horrible to watch."
