2020-04-01 Reader\'s Digest AUNZ

day: what are they and where do
they come from?”

UNFORTUNATELY, for those that
prefer to see animals in their nat-
ural habitat, the Lumholtz’s tree
kangaroo is notoriously difficult to
spot in the wild.
However, sightings are almost guar-
anteed at the Nerada Tea Estate at
Malanda, not far from Karen’s prop-
erty, where you can sip on a steaming
brew of farm-fresh tea  in the onsite
café while watching a family of resi-
dent tree kangaroos deftly  climbing
the trees that fringe the tea planta-
tion outside. “We’ve had tree kanga-
roos on the Nerada Tea Estate for a
long time and some of the females
have successfully produced quite a
few young,” says plantation manager,
Tony Poyner.
“Depending on where they are
in the trees, you can sometimes
see little joeys pop out of the
mum’s pouch, jump around on the

branchesandhaveagreattime.

They’re typicallittlekidsandteen-

agers. Theyrunupanddownthe

trees and chaseeachotherandit’s

really quitespecialtosee.”

Recently,NeradaTeasponsoredthe

constructionoftwonewenclosuresat

Karen’s TreeRooRescueandConser-

vation Centretohelpaccommodate

the growingnumberofrescuesresult-

ing from blindnessandlossofhabitat.

But despitethechallengesfacingthe

species, Karenremainsanoptimist.

“I think thateverysinglepersoncan

do somethingtohelpourwildlife,re-

gardless of whatspeciesit is,”shesays,

swinging aheftymaletreerooonto

her shoulder.Sheturnstoaddress

him: “Hey,gorgeous!CanI patyou?

You’ve grownsobig!”Shelooksback

at me and smiles. “As for the

Lumholtz’streekangaroo,I’dliketo

think we cansavethem,butI always

say you can’tsavea speciesif noone

knows anythingaboutthem.Sothat’s

what I’m allabout,allthetime.”

Technology Goes Old School

Although Casio pioneered its electronic calculatorinthe

1950s, the abacus is still valued in Japan andoftenusedby

elderly cashiers. In fact, many Japanese believetheabacuscan

hone maths skills and manual dexterity, andthereareseveral

schools in the country teaching the skill. Thegovernmentputs

the number of learners taking advanced lessonsintheabacus

at 43,000. Practitioners who attain qualificationscanevenvie

for abacus supremacy in national tournaments.

MONOCLE

29

Tree Kangaroo Mum