Confused kangaroos appear in schools and stores

A kangaroo has been spotted on a shelf in a hardware store in Malanda, Queensland

Tree-dwelling kangaroos appear dazed and confused in hardware stores and other strange places in Australia that suffer from mysterious vision problems that have baffled scientists.

Rare marsupials have been found at gas stations, schools, shops, backyards and in the middle of roads in northern Australia. who have left their natural habitat in the rainforest.

Scientists can't figure out what might have influenced the behavior of Lumholz's tree-kangaroos, which typically live high in the rainforest canopies in far north Queensland, where they feed on leaves and spend most of their time napping.

But it's suspected that drought concentrates more toxins in the leaves they normally chew, which affects their vision.

Tree kangaroos pop up in «really crazy places,» Karen said. Coombs, an animal expert who runs a shelter for them in the town of Malanda in tropical north Queensland.

One of them was photographed on a shelf in a hardware store in Malanda, a rural town in Queensland.< /p>Climate change

«This is not normal behavior for a tree kangaroo,» Dr. Coombes told ABC. «They get lost miles from the rainforest.»

She thinks climate change may be causing kangaroos' vision problems.

Lumholtz's tree kangaroo usually lives high in the rainforest crowns of far north Queensland. Photo: Bill Coster/Alamy Stock Photo

“I think rainforests are stressed by lack of rain and warmer temperatures, and with less water in the leaves, toxins are more concentrated,” Dr. Coombs said.

“Roos rely on leaves as a source of water. and when they eat them, neurotoxins undermine their immune systems.”

Scientists are also investigating the theory that kangaroos may be suffering from a viral infection caused by climate change.

& #39;The blinding effect&# 39;

The Lumholtz tree kangaroo is named after Norwegian explorer Karl Lumholtz, who in 1883 became the first European to record the animal.

This is one of two species of tree kangaroo found in Australia, along with Bennett's tree kangaroo.

Other species live on the island of New Guinea, north of Australia.

Tony Reid, a veterinary ophthalmologist, says there are no structural abnormalities in the kangaroo retina. , but they are clearly struggling to see properly.

«They seem to have a sense of light, which we call the dazzle effect, where the optic nerve is still responsive to light, but this does not mean that they have full vision,» he told ABC.

It's not just tree kangaroos that suffer from unexplained vision problems.

Blindness has afflicted the much more widespread eastern gray kangaroos in the past, and experts have concluded that the problem was caused by the animals eating introduced, non-native grass.

Invasive grass became prolific as a result of heavy rains interrupting a long period of drought. .