After the flood: How did kangaroos get to Australia?

heirmiles

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OT always was the Kangaroo as now we do behold him, but a Different Animal with four short legs. He was grey and he was woolly, and his pride was inordinate: he danced on an outcrop in the middle of Australia, and he went to the Little God Nqa.

He went to Nqa at six before breakfast, saying, 'Make me different from all other animals by five this afternoon.'

Up jumped Nqa from his seat on the sandflat and shouted, 'Go away!'

He was grey and he was woolly, and his pride was inordinate: he danced on a rock-ledge in the middle of Australia, and he went to the Middle God Nquing.

He went to Nquing at eight after breakfast, saying, 'Make me different from all other animals; make me, also, wonderfully popular by five this afternoon.'

Up jumped Nquing from his burrow in the spinifex and shouted, 'Go away!'

He was grey and he was woolly, and his pride was inordinate: he danced on a sandbank in the middle of Australia, and he went to the Big God Nqong.

He went to Nqong at ten before dinner-time, saying, 'Make me different from all other animals; make me popular and wonderfully run after by five this afternoon.'

Up jumped Nqong from his bath in the salt-pan and shouted, 'Yes, I will!'

Nqong called Dingo--Yellow-Dog Dingo--always hungry, dusty in the sunshine, and showed him Kangaroo. Nqong said, 'Dingo! Wake up, Dingo! Do you see that gentleman dancing on an ashpit? He wants to be popular and very truly run after. Dingo, make him SO!'

Up jumped Dingo--Yellow-Dog Dingo--and said, 'What, that cat-rabbit?'

Off ran Dingo--Yellow-Dog Dingo--always hungry, grinning like a coal-scuttle,--ran after Kangaroo.

Off went the proud Kangaroo on his four little legs like a bunny.

This, O Beloved of mine, ends the first part of the tale!

He ran through the desert; he ran through the mountains; he ran through the salt-pans; he ran through the reed-beds; he ran through the blue gums; he ran through the spinifex; he ran till his front legs ached.

He had to!

Still ran Dingo--Yellow-Dog Dingo--always hungry, grinning like a rat-trap, never getting nearer, never getting farther,--ran after Kangaroo.

He had to!

Still ran Kangaroo--Old Man Kangaroo. He ran through the ti-trees; he ran through the mulga; he ran through the long grass; he ran through the short grass; he ran through the Tropics of Capricorn and Cancer; he ran till his hind legs ached.

He had to!

Still ran Dingo--Yellow-Dog Dingo--hungrier and hungrier, grinning like a horse-collar, never getting nearer, never getting farther; and they came to the Wollgong River.

Now, there wasn't any bridge, and there wasn't any ferry-boat, and Kangaroo didn't know how to get over; so he stood on his legs and hopped.

He had to!

He hopped through the Flinders; he hopped through the Cinders; he hopped through the deserts in the middle of Australia. He hopped like a Kangaroo.

First he hopped one yard; then he hopped three yards; then he hopped five yards; his legs growing stronger; his legs growing longer. He hadn't any time for rest or refreshment, and he wanted them very much.

Still ran Dingo--Yellow-Dog Dingo--very much bewildered, very much hungry, and wondering what in the world or out of it made Old Man Kangaroo hop.

For he hopped like a cricket; like a pea in a saucepan; or a new rubber ball on a nursery floor.

He had to!

He tucked up his front legs; he hopped on his hind legs; he stuck out his tail for a balance-weight behind him; and he hopped through the Darling Downs.

He had to!

Still ran Dingo--Tired-Dog Dingo--hungrier and hungrier, very much bewildered, and wondering when in the world or out of it would Old Man Kangaroo stop.

Then came Nqong from his bath in the salt-pans, and said, 'It's five o'clock.'

Down sat Dingo--Poor Dog Dingo--always hungry, dusky in the sunshine; hung out his tongue and howled.

Down sat Kangaroo--Old Man Kangaroo--stuck out his tail like a milking-stool behind him, and said, 'Thank goodness that's finished!'

Then said Nqong, who is always a gentleman, 'Why aren't you grateful to Yellow-Dog Dingo? Why don't you thank him for all he has done for you?'

Then said Kangaroo--Tired Old Kangaroo--'He's chased me out of the homes of my childhood; he's chased me out of my regular meal-times; he's altered my shape so I'll never get it back; and he's played Old Scratch with my legs.'

R. Kipling
 
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How did the kangaroos get to Australia?
I believe the following passage alludes to how they may have got there.
(See the bolded words in red below).

6 "And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.
8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.
9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth."
(Genesis 11:6-9).

Meaning, when men were scattered upon the face of ALL the Earth, they took with them animals as pets and or for potential future food, or for clothing. Some traveled by boat so as to scatter upon the face of all the Earth. So the kangaroo got to Australia by men taking them upon boats.
 
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PaulCyp1

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Silly questions like this will continue to come up as long as people continue to blindly misinterpret the Bible as completely literal. Interestingly, there are two groups of people who continue to do this - fundamentalist Protestants and atheists. Obviously Australia was not involved in the great flood. Neither were North and South America. The flood encompassed "the whole world" that was known to the people of that time and place. Australia and the Americas were not part of "the whole world" as far as the biblical writers were concerned. Their "whole world" was the area surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. The inland Black Sea is a remnant of that great flood.
 
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Kaon

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I believe they got their by boat (after the language was confounded at the tower of Babyl). Others believe it was because the Earth was all one interconnected land mass (at one point in time).

What do you say?

The flood was a geological event - with seismicity and vulcanism. Looking at Australia's tectonic plate arrangement, likely it became isolated as a mass, and its native creatures thrived on the mass. Any remnant creatures may have died in the event, or became prey.

Although, they could have been "imported."
 
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Silly questions like this will continue to come up as long as people continue to blindly misinterpret the Bible as completely literal. Interestingly, there are two groups of people who continue to do this - fundamentalist Protestants and atheists. Obviously Australia was not involved in the great flood. Neither were North and South America. The flood encompassed "the whole world" that was known to the people of that time and place. Australia and the Americas were not part of "the whole world" as far as the biblical writers were concerned. Their "whole world" was the area surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. The inland Black Sea is a remnant of that great flood.

The basic rules of reading (in general) is that you read things literally unless there is an indication in the text that says otherwise. People have a problem with the fantastic things within the Bible, so they then right them off as metaphors. This is simply the sad truth of what people do. They do not like what God's Word says plainly so they seek to change what it says.

Genesis 7:19 is all the proof one needs to know that there was a global flood. Well, unless of course you don't want to read that as being literal. I mean, would you fly in a plane by a person who read the plans (on building that plane) metaphorically? I sure hope not. Why would you want to do that with God's instruction manual for our lives? The risk is even greater.
 
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The flood was a geological event - with seismicity and vulcanism. Looking at Australia's tectonic plate arrangement, likely it became isolated as a mass, and its native creatures thrived on the mass. Any remnant creatures may have died in the event, or became prey.

Although, they could have been "imported."

The only land animals that survived were those that went on the Ark. So the kangaroos came off the Ark and they most likely were taken to Australia by men on boats. I believe this happened after the language was confounded and man was scattered across the face of all of the Earth.
 
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Kaon

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The only land animals that survived were those that went on the Ark. So the kangaroos came off the Ark and they most likely were taken to Australia by men on boats. I believe this happened after the language was confounded and man was scattered across the face of all of the Earth.

The flood killed the land creatures, but Australia wasn't necessarily separate before Noah washed up on land. It was a geological event.
 
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Kaon

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The only land animals that survived were those that went on the Ark. So the kangaroos came off the Ark and they most likely were taken to Australia by men on boats. I believe this happened after the language was confounded and man was scattered across the face of all of the Earth.

What you are saying is completely plausible also, but we would have to ask why there are so many isolated species on the Australian/Tasmanian plate in the first place.

The creatures are darn near prehistoric.
 
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The flood killed the land creatures, but Australia wasn't necessarily separate before Noah washed up on land. It was a geological event.

Genesis 7:19 says all the highest mountains were covered with water. This means the whole Earth was covered by water and everything died that was upon the land.
 
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What you are saying is completely plausible also, but we would have to ask why there are so many isolated species on the Australian/Tasmanian plate in the first place.

The creatures are darn near prehistoric.

Because they were taken their by men on boats.
 
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Kaon

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Genesis 7:19 says all the highest mountains were covered with water. This means the whole Earth was covered by water and everything died that was upon the land.

Correct. However, when Noah washed up, and those animals scattered, that could have been well before Australia "separated," as it were.

Water is heavy; it breaks continental plates, and then moves the masses with the flow as much as possible.
 
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Correct. However, when Noah washed up, and those animals scattered, that could have been well before Australia "separated," as it were.

Water is heavy; it breaks continental plates, and then moves the masses with the flow as much as possible.

I don't buy into the theory that the Earth was one big piece of landmass that separated.
 
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Kaon

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Because they were taken their by men on boats.

What I am saying is that a "Pangaea" could have still existed after the flood, but other things happened that caused Australia to depart.

As I said, your explanation is completely plausible; this "separation" could have happened when the Tower of Babel was destroyed, and the people were scattered. It could be a pithy way of describing a forced separation of peoples, culture and language by way of geological upheaval.

The plate structure of Australia is Australia and Tasmania. This was a piece of mass broken away.
 
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dcalling

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I believe they got their by boat (after the language was confounded at the tower of Babyl). Others believe it was because the Earth was all one interconnected land mass (at one point in time).

What do you say?

They might got there by boat with people when they scattered, or it is also possible that the land was still connected at the time.

What might happened is, during the flood God caused a lot of water on earth (the relatively smooth earth without nothing too high or low). And God possibly made the flood go away by causing part of earth to rise up (mountains and land) and part to be lowered (sea). The process is enough to quickly cause the earth to dry up (during the process some of the most striking land marks might got created, i.e. the grand canyon).

At that point most of the land might still connected, and in the next couple thousand years the inertia God caused to have mountains raise caused lands to separate totally.
 
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Marvin Knox

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They were once quite abundant in Europe including the British Isles.

Most kangaroos and wallabies are cheeky rascals and tend to get into a lot of trouble.

I believe they were shipped off to the British penal colonies in Australia, left to their own devises, and thrived there with other undesirable marsupial types.
 
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They might got there by boat with people when they scattered, or it is also possible that the land was still connected at the time.

What might happened is, during the flood God caused a lot of water on earth (the relatively smooth earth without nothing too high or low). And God possibly made the flood go away by causing part of earth to rise up (mountains and land) and part to be lowered (sea). The process is enough to quickly cause the earth to dry up (during the process some of the most striking land marks might got created, i.e. the grand canyon).

At that point most of the land might still connected, and in the next couple thousand years the inertia God caused to have mountains raise caused lands to separate totally.

I tend to lean towards the boat idea because man did not scatter upon the face of all the Earth until the tower of Babel. If the landmass was breaking apart, I think the seismic activity to such an event would crazy or insane and men would not be able to build, etc.
 
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I believe they got their by boat (after the language was confounded at the tower of Babyl). Others believe it was because the Earth was all one interconnected land mass (at one point in time).

What do you say?
How did anything else get to Australia?
 
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