The State Government recently approved funding for a Wollongong PhD student to confine wild kangaroos and possibly wombats to cages measuring 1m by 1.3m by 1.7m for up to nine months, to measure the methane gas they expel.

The Mercury understands the experiments were going to be used as part of a wider study on global warming.

A university spokesman yesterday said a meeting of UOW's animal ethics committee, scheduled this month to determine the future of the project, had been cancelled.

"The meeting has been cancelled as the researcher involved has withdrawn his application for the project," the spokesman said.

"If the project had got to the committee stage, they would have had to consider the possibility of kangaroos and wombats being used as part of the research work.

"The committee is comprised of people from the university as well as off-campus representatives from WIRES, the RSPCA and veterinary clinics. If it had gone through to the committee, due consideration would be made."

Animal Liberation executive director Mark Pearson said the decision was a breakthrough for animal rights.

"The experiment was going to be extremely cruel to those animals involved and it was certainly a very flawed piece of research," he said.

"Not often are experiments exposed like this.

"It shows that the structures and methods that the State Government's ethics committees have in place are flawed and do not meet the requirements of animal welfare that the public expects."