Tourism Australia has defended its use of a kangaroo as part of a promotion on a Los Angeles street, after accusations of animal cruelty.
A New Zealand woman filmed the kangaroo swaying back and forth apparently in distress while in the US in january.
Kylie Mackenzie uploaded numerous videos of the kangaroo to YouTube in January, voicing her disgust at the animal's treatment.
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In the videos, she complains that the fully grown kangaroo is kept in a concrete pen with barely any straw covering its floor. In one of the uploads, she films it eating leaves from a bush growing near the pen which she says "it probably isn't supposed to."
"I just couldn't believe that this is how they were trying to promote Australia," Mackenzie told the Daily Telegraph.
A spokeswoman for Tourism Australia respodned to the criticism yesterday.
She told the Daily Telegraph that the stunt was humane, explaining that the kangaroo was used for four-hour stints at a time and then rested.
"It was an event for the public and obviously when you are doing things with Australia, people — particularly children — are really interested in seeing animals," the spokeswoman told the newspaper.
