[Maisy]

Huey, I'm not sure really how much damage possums do in Australia, but it's not something I hear Aussies complain about, so it can't be too bad. Maybe it's because it is an australian animal and fits into the food chain better over here. Apart from the odd complaint about them being in people's roofs, they seem to be harmless, although I know they have done real damage in NZ. Certainly farmers in Australia have no complaints about them.

Kangaroos on the other hand compete with cattle for pastureland, and a herd of kangaroos can quickly decimate good grazing land. They also love a good crop of grain etc. Most farmers will tolerate a small herd of roos on their place, but if the herd gets too large, some judicious thinning is applied and the cattledogs eat well for a while.

I guess it is the size of the animal and the relative damage it can to to commercial enterprises. The commercial farming of kangaroos has been going on for a while here and roo meat now appears on supermarket shelves, so it's obviously popular.