<h5>A strange sight.</h5>  <p>Imagine walking down the street and coming face to face with kangaroos jumping around. That’s not uncommon in Australia, where there are millions of kangaroos. But not in India, where there are zero kangaroos (except the ones in zoos).</p>
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That’s exactly what happened in a village in West Bengal. Villagers came across three strange animals hopping down the street, looking weak and hungry. They notified West Bengal’s forest officials.
</p> <h5>What was the reaction of the forest officials?</h5> <figure>
        <img src="https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/newsahoot.appspot.com/o/kangaroos-are-being-spotted-in-india%2Fkangaroos-are-being-spotted-in-india-section1.jpeg?alt=media&token=9d6c1126-035a-4657-8af5-e769bc30933a" alt="What was the reaction of the forest officials?" >
        <figcaption>Rescued kangaroos eating leaves. Photo by ANI.</figcaption>
      </figure> <p>The forest officials couldn’t believe their eyes. They also became suspicious about how an Australian animal was roaming around in India. One of them said, “There is no real reason for them to be in India unless they have been brought in by humans and transport machines. These kangaroos did not hop from Australia to India.”</p>
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The forest officials brought the three kangaroos to a nearby wildlife park to be treated. They named them Xavier, Alex, and Lucas. Sadly, Lucas died soon after.
</p> <h5>Why were kangaroos roaming the streets in India?</h5>  <p>Kangaroos are endemic to Australia, though there are a few that live in the nearby country of Papua New Guinea. West Bengal’s forest officials are sure that Alex, Xavier, and Lucas have never been anywhere near Australia. They were bred in captivity and smuggled into the country by road.
The illegal wildlife industry is very lucrative and is worth $23 billion. There are mainly two kinds of animal trafficking that keep this industry going. First is the trade of live animals, which people around the world want to keep as pets. Second is the demand for animal parts, like tiger paws, ivory, etc. Unfortunately, many people enjoy luxury possessions like hair brushes made from mongoose hair, shawls made from the hair of Tibetan antelopes, etc.
So, breeding farms have sprung up all over Asia. Exotic animals are reared on these farms and smuggled to the rest of the world, where they are either kept as pets or killed to use for their body parts.</p>
<p>Forest officials are sure that these kangaroos came from a breeding farm in Asia and were headed to a city in India where a private buyer awaited them. When the smugglers became suspicious that India’s wildlife officers were close to catching them, they abandoned the kangaroos and fled.
</p> <h5>How bad is the exotic animal trade in India?</h5>  <p>The borders along northeast India are known for wildlife smuggling. This is because they are spread over a huge area and border many different countries. It’s not possible to monitor every inch of them effectively. That’s why smugglers find it easy to cross over in large vehicles carrying all sorts of endangered animals.</p>
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<p>Authorities have periodically caught them with exotic snakes, birds, monkeys, orangutans, zebras, and even big cats.</p>
<p>In 2021, our government found that many Indians had pets like lemurs, iguanas, macaws, and kangaroos. The demand for keeping exotic animals as pets is higher than ever among Indians today.
</p> <h5>What’s next for these two kangaroos?</h5>  <p>Though Lucas passed away, you’ll be happy to know that Alex and Xavier are doing well. They are munching on watermelons, bananas, and wild grass all day long and focusing on recovering from their nightmare of a road trip.</p>
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Soon, they’ll be sent to a zoo in Kolkata where there are other kangaroos. So, they’ll be well-taken care of and make new friends.
</p>

Recently, people in a village in West Bengal were stunned to see kangaroos hopping down the road. How did these kangaroos get so far away from Australia? Let’s find out.

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