Lessons from a Kangaroo

Great economizers of energy, kangaroos travel long distances with ease and efficiency. Their unique locomotion symbolizes movement and progress on the Australian coat of arms, capturing the spirit of a young, forward-looking nation in the colonial imaginary. Emblazoned in red across the tail of Qantas airplanes, Australia’s largest airline, a bounding kangaroo in full flight signals the exciting possibilities of effortless travel. In my own anthropocentric fantasies, I have always felt there is something very human about how kangaroos appear to revel in the capacities their clever physiology affords them. Decades after moving to Australia as an adult, spotting a mob of kangaroos propped on their elbows in casual recline as they laze in an open paddock still sparks childlike excitement. On my visits back home to Québec, my niece and nephew would press me for stories of these strange, charismatic creatures from the other side of the world. In...