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SYDNEY (Reuters) – The mystery of crop
circles in poppy
fields in Australia's southern island state of Tasmania has been solved -- stoned wallabies are eating
the poppy heads and hopping around in circles.
"We have a problem with wallabies entering poppy fields, getting
as high as a kite and going around in
circles," the state's top lawmaker Lara
Giddings told local media on Thursday.
"Then they crash. We see crop circles in the poppy industry from
wallabies that are high," she said.
Many people believe crop circles that mysteriously appear in
fields around the world are created by aliens.
Poppy producer Tasmanian Alkaloids said
livestock which ate the poppies were known to "act weird" --
including deer and sheep in the state's highlands.
"There have been many stories about sheep that have eaten some
of the poppies after harvesting and they all walk around in
circles," said field operations manager Rick
Rockliff.
Australia produces about 50 percent of the
world's raw material for morphine and related opiates.
(Reporting by Michael Perry; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
