Missing kangaroo pelt recovered in O.B.

On Monday (September 12), Buck sent out an SOS on the O.B. Facebook group page asking if anyone had found his missing kangaroo pelt. By the end of the day, owner and pelt were reunited, but due to the nature of the request, some residents were spitting hellfire at the thought of it.

Buck wrote: “I play a didgeridoo in O.B. on the wall sometimes, and I heard that traditional Australian Aboriginal didgeridoo players wear a kangaroo skin pelt over their shoulders when they play, so I bought one on eBay.... I guess it just fell off my shoulders when I was walking from one grass to the other by the lifeguard station.”

Within a few hours, someone had posted that they saw a post from someone else who had found the pelt — but they took the post down due to all the negative comments.

“It was supposed to be a kind of spiritual item so I'm so glad to hear there's a chance it might show up again,” Buck wrote after hearing the news.

In 1971 California banned the import of kangaroo parts; in 2007, the state put a moratorium on the ban, allowing the sale of kangaroo-skin products. The moratorium expired at the end of 2015, meaning it's now a crime to import, possess with intent to sell, or sell kangaroo parts in California. Fines of up to $5k and jail time are given to offenders. (But you can still find kangaroo meat from local farmers/butchers.)

And while it seems distasteful (but not illegal) to wear a kangaroo pelt around a community steeped in animal welfare — folks should know that soccer cleats, gloves, and other leather products are made from kangaroo leather — including those from brands like Nike.

The Kangaroo Industry Association of Australia (KIAA) said the annual retail value of kangaroo product sales in California (2015) was about $200 million.