You can see kangaroos everywhere in Australia．They appear on TV, in books and, in the shops．The government even plans to put them on passports．[103]Although it's the best loved animal in Australia, millions of kangaroos are killed every year．Why, people ask, do the Australians kill them? Quite simple, there are too many of them．
The number of kangaroos in Australia is believed to be 20—25 million．It is larger than the number of people living in the country．
There are several reasons for the growth in the number of kangaroos．There is plenty of water in the places where kangaroos live and many of the dingoes (澳洲野狗) that like to kill and eat kangaroos are not there anymore．
Kangaroos also produce (产生) the young all the year round．When a female (雌的) kangaroo gives birth , she then gets pregnant (怀孕) again immediately．The large number of kangaroos means some kangaroos don't get food to eat．They are so hungry that they break into farms and fight against other animals for food．
[104]To solve the problem, the Australian government allows a certain number of kangaroos to be killed each year．
Many people don't think that it's right to kill kangaroos but the government thinks that it is only to help the farmers．Australia sells 5 million kilos of kangaroo meat every year—it is used to make hamburgers for dogs．