CANBERRA, Australia -- Residents in Australia's national capital were warned Wednesday not to bother starving kangaroos that are bounding through their streets and parks in search of food.
Wildlife authorities said the usually harmless, grass-eating Eastern Gray kangaroos are being driven by hunger from the drought-stricken countryside around Canberra, into the city of 320,000 where the town water supply has kept conditions greener.
The Australian Capital Territory Environment Department warned residents to beware after a woman was attacked by a kangaroo while walking her poodle in a city park last week and another woman reported a kangaroo had drowned her golden retriever in a pond and seriously injured two other dogs in an unprovoked attack.
Government wildlife ecologist Murray Evans said the danger was that city folk forgot that the beloved symbol of Australia was also a wild animal that can grow as tall and heavy as a man.
"Kangaroos don't come bounding out of the bush looking for people to attack," Evans told The Associated Press. "It's usually kangaroos minding their own business and people thinking they're cute and cuddly and getting too close."
Hunger has broken the kangaroos' usual routine of lazing in the shade of trees by day and feeding during the night.
Kangaroos are now more likely to be seen feeding during the day, particularly on well-watered open spaces such as golf courses and sporting fields, which makes them likely to come into contact with humans.
Also because of the drought, Evans said kangaroos are less likely to flee when they feel threatened by a human in an urban environment.
"Because of the shortage of feed, they're more likely to stand their ground when they've found grass, particularly the big males," he said.
When a kangaroo attacks, it attempts to fight a human as it would a kangaroo.
"It looks like boxing, but they don't actually curl their paws up and punch," Evans said. "They spar, taking swipes at each other with their (upper) paws, scratching and grappling.
"They can even rest back on their tails and try to kick you and that's when you can really get some serious injuries."
A University of New England researcher into kangaroo and human interaction in urban areas, Guy Ballard, said humans forget that they are dealing with an animal that can tip the scales at 176 pounds.
"It's very rare for people to be attacked by kangaroos," Ballard said. "But a male Eastern Gray kangaroo can be as big as an average man so if conflict does occur, there's a potential for people to be hurt."
He knew of only a handful of reported kangaroo attacks on humans in the past year, including one in a household kitchen.
An advertising campaign, partially sponsored by the government warns motorists of the heightened kangaroo road hazard, with 90 to 160 kangaroos killed on Canberra streets each month, government spokesman David Miles said Thursday.
Judge orders Steak 'n Shake, Burger King to mediation in fight over 'steakburger'
Associated Press
ST. LOUIS -- A mediator will decide whether Burger King can call its product a steak burger -- or if competitor Steak 'n Shake Co. has exclusive rights to the term.
A federal judge Wednesday declined Steak 'n Shake's request to block Burger King's "Angus Steak Burger" on the grounds it infringed on the restaurant chain's "steakburger" trademark.
In a ruling, U.S. District Judge Catherine Perry ordered the two chains to meet with a mediator by September to resolve the dispute.
David Milne, Steak 'n Shake's general counsel, said the company might appeal the decision. Officials from Burger King did not return a phone message seeking comment.
Steak 'n Shake's own burgers aren't really steak. Still, the Indianapolis-based company has for more than 70 years used the steak reference in its slogan -- "Famous for Steakburgers" -- and advertisements.
In December, Steak 'n Shake president Peter Dunn sent a letter to Burger King president Bob Nilsen asking that Burger King not infringe on the "steakburger" trademark.
When that failed to derail the "Angus Steak Burger," Steak 'n Shake went to court, filing a lawsuit in May, days after the sandwiches made their debut.
Miami-based Burger King countered that "steak" and "burger" are generic terms.
Steak 'n Shake has 418 restaurants in 18 states. Burger King is the No. 2 fast-food chain after McDonald's Corp. with more than 11,000 restaurants worldwide.
Four parole agents moonlighting for Snoop Dogg are fired
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES -- Four state parole agents have been fired following a yearlong investigation after their arrest while they were part of rapper Snoop Dogg's armed entourage at an awards show, officials said.
The California Department of Corrections began an internal probe after the rapper's caravan was stopped following the Black Entertainment Television Awards in Hollywood last June. Police arrested three heavily armed bodyguards and confiscated knives, ammunition and handguns. A total of 13 people were detained for questioning.
Snoop Dogg, whose given name is Calvin Broadus, had been dropped off at the Kodak Theatre before the group was stopped and was not detained.
Three parole agents were found to be part of the entourage. The investigation found a fourth officer was working for the rapper while on a disability leave from the state, CDC spokeswoman Terry Thornton said.
Officials on Tuesday declined to release the names of the officers and the reason why they were fired, saying they expected the officers to appeal the decision within the next 30 days.
The officers' involvement with the rapper, who was convicted in 1990 of felony possession of cocaine for sale, appeared to be in conflict with their duties.
The state agency does not have a specific policy barring outside work for people with criminal records. However, employment is forbidden by state regulations if it's "incompatible or inconsistent" with their duties, CDC spokesman Russ Heimerich said.
The Inglewood Unified School District board last year voted to fire eight part-time school police officers, including four who moonlighted as bodyguards for Snoop Dogg when an unknown gunman shot at his convoy in April 2003.
Boy, 14, arrested in three deaths at New Mexico ranch owned by journalist Sam Donaldson
Associated Press
HONDO, N.M. -- The 14-year-old son of the manager of ABC newsman Sam Donaldson's New Mexico ranch was arrested Wednesday on charges of murdering his father, stepmother and stepsister, authorities said.
Cody Posey was arrested at a friend's home near the Chavez Canyon Ranch around 5 p.m., Lincoln County Sheriff Tom Sullivan said.
The bodies were found at the ranch in south-central New Mexico after Donaldson went to the manager's house on Tuesday and discovered an "obvious crime scene," Sullivan said. Deputies searched the area and found the three bodies in a shallow grave. No other details of the slayings were released.
The dead were identified as Delbert Paul Posey, the teen's father; stepsister Mary Lee Schmid, 14; and stepmother Tryone Posey.
Cody Posey was detained on three counts of murder and four counts of tampering with evidence. An initial court appearance was scheduled for Thursday, Sullivan said.
In a prepared statement, Donaldson said he and his wife, Jan, hired Paul Posey to work at the ranch in October 2001. "Jan and I are so very, very sorry about the loss of these fine people," he said.
District Attorney Scot Key said Cody Posey would be tried in juvenile court but could face an adult penalty if convicted. He said punishment could range from probation under juvenile law to 30 years in prison, the standard sentence in New Mexico for an adult convicted of murder.
"We've never seen a triple murder, and the circumstances of a juvenile committing a crime against family members hasn't been experienced here," Key said.
The Donaldsons were in Santa Fe in northern New Mexico during the Fourth of July weekend, when the slayings apparently occurred.
"We didn't see them Tuesday morning or Tuesday afternoon, so I went over -- and on the porch was a large stain that was instantly recognizable," Donaldson told Albuquerque television station KOB-TV. He then called the sheriff's office.
Donaldson described Cody Posey as "withdrawn, like any typical teenager."
Donaldson's Lincoln County ranch is in rolling pastureland about 125 miles northeast of Las Cruces.
Donaldson, a journalist with ABC since 1967, owns three ranches in south-central New Mexico and has extensive ties to the state. He grew up on a cotton farm in New Mexico and graduated from New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell.