At any given point, millions of Australian cattle are burping, belching and farting out Methane gas into the air, which, everybody knows, adds considerably to Global warming. Methane gas is 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Environmentalists and vegetarians have been up in arms about this burping and belching for some time. Then enter Athol Klieve, (of the Centre for advanced Animal Science) who is an expert on cattle stomachs, in particular their burping and belching. He’s leading a team of researchers who want to make or clone cattle guts to behave like a kangaroo’s guts. Both are herbivores, and both eat grass that is fermented before entering their main stomachs. However, while cattle belch out enormous amounts of methane to digest their food, kangaroos release virtually none — they burp only harmless gases. I look around the feedlot; as far as the eye can see, there are cattle massed for the slaughter. The general logo around here is: The best possible carcasses in the shortest feed time. Thousands of sad eyes look through my lens and right down into my heart. I quickly take a picture and wish that I were gone. Maybe I will return here one day and see thousands of kangaroos standing in feedlots that stretch into the distance, burping friendly gases. But then maybe, one day, there will be no feedlot at all.

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