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FACTOID!!
Kangaroos are marsupials. They carry their babies in pouches. When a baby is born it crawls blind and helpless into its mother's pouch, feeds on her milk and stays there until it is quite large.


Beetle infestation threatens 'catastrophe' for B.C. forests


Beetle infestation threatens 'catastrophe' for B.C. forests
An infestation of the mountain pine beetle in B.C. could become a provincial disaster, according to logging companies and First Peoples groups. The infestation began in a small area west of Prince George four years ago and has now spread to an estimated 300,000 hectares. The beetle bores into lodgepole pine trees and leaves a fungus which eventually kills the tree. A dead tree is characterized by red foliage. Warm weather is being blamed for the spread of the beetle, and cold winters with -30 Cø temperatures are needed to stop the infestation. Logging is also considered a way to control epidemics, but environment minister Joan Sawicki has said that a logging strategy will not be used in parks and other protected areas. The mountain pine beetle is a natural part of the lodgepole pine ecosystem, and periodic outbreaks occur.
14 SEPTEMBER 1999
The Vancouver Sun
14 SEPTEMBER 1999

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