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Oz Crop Circles Blamed On 'High' Wallabies

A red neck wallaby in Australia

Wallabies are creating chaos in the pharmaceutical poppy industry







The marsupials have been snacking on poppies growing in fields in Tasmania, the world's largest producer of legally-grown opium for medicines.

Afterwards, they hop round in circles before crashing on top of the crops and trampling them to the ground.

State attorney general Lara Giddings told a parliamentary hearing: "We have a problem with wallabies entering poppy fields, getting as high as a kite and going around in circles.

"Then they crash. We see crop circles in the poppy industry from wallabies that are high."

Other animals, including deer and sheep, have also been seen "acting weird" after eating the poppy plants, according to an opium industry spokesman.

"There have been many stories about sheep that have eaten some of the poppies after harvesting and they all walk around in circles," Rick Rockliff said.

Tasmania has around 500 farms which supply about 50% of the world's raw material for morphine and other related opiates.


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