Mike, the subject is indeed rare these days. The kangaroo and hunting make uncomfortable companions in the political world where facts tend to be forgotten. Hunters do not use dogs for roos but need them for pigs. The roo is not a carnivore but for thousands of years, it's main predator was the dingo and it is admirably adapted for defence against dogs as a result. As big as a human, it is quite able to use those skills against that predator also. That is why the native people of Australia hunted them (for food) with spears. Up close, the human is at a distinct disadvantage.
Kangaroos were exploited by sideshow operators for their "sparring" talents in the days of travelling shows. Many concerns fed the demise of that practice.
The notion of the kangaroo as a defenceless animal is quite misplaced, and their numbers from time-to-time reach plague proportions as overhunting the dingo removed its natural predator.
Shooting "skippy" is not a popular image in today's political world so culling is a silent practice. A herd or "mob" of several thousand can make a wasteland of valuable grazing land in a very short time. The motivation is practical necessity not gratuitous violence.
