BATHURST: “There she is, there she is!” In the distance beyond the outstretched finger of conservation biologist Daniel Ramp stood a rare white animal, rising slowly as her ears stiffened and eyes focused on him.

Nestled below her snowy chest was a brown joey, its head peaking out of a pouch.

The 1.5-metre tall albino wallaroo bounded towards the thin trunks of eucalyptus gum trees in the Mount Panorama Woodlands, her light leaps barely breaking the silence of the natural reserve.

Several hundred metres away, the harsh sounds of revving engines echoed as V8 supercars raced around the track of Australia’s spiritual home of motor sport in Bathurst, some 300 kilometres (185 miles) west of Sydney.

The white marsupial, believed to be more than four years old and one of only three spotted in the area, has thrilled researchers studying the local kangaroo population — but there are concerns about the wallaroos’ chosen home in the woodlands surrounding the race circuit.

The Bathurst Kangaroo Project, funded by the University of Technology Sydney’s Centre for Compassionate Conservation and Bathurst’s local council, is keen to reduce the conflict between the animals and race cars.

Mount Panorama is home to the “Bathurst 1000”, known as the “Great Race”, which takes place in October. The culling of some 140 kangaroos near the tracks sparked outrage in 2009, while videos of them bounding between cars travelling at almost 200 kilometres per hour have gone viral on YouTube.

Organisers have sought to keep them away by erecting fences but some still get on the track, causing near-misses or crashes.

“We see kangaroos jumping into fences left, right and centre, getting scared,” Ramp said, describing how some kangaroos react when stressed by the race and the appearance of thousands of fans.

Published in Dawn March 17th , 2015

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