Under Fire A Viva! Report on The Killing of Kangaroos for Meat and Skin by Juliet Gellatley BSc (Zoology), Director of Viva!

Introduction Imagine this. A mother kangaroo, grooming her beautiful joey at night in the vast wild outback, hears the sound of a four wheel drive and stands transfixed, sensing danger. Searchlights are shone at her. A man takes aim, supposedly to shoot her in the head - but blows a hole in her neck. She falls in pain, helpless to save her joey who retreats into her pouch. But there's no escape. The hunter pulls the joey out of his mother's blood spattered body, tosses him to the ground and stamps on his head. He writhes in agony and is left to die. (Older joeys who frantically hop away when their mothers are shot, have no chance of survival. They die a slow, lonely death from starvation or cold.) The shot mother does not die instantly. She struggles as the hunter slits her leg open, thrusts a hook through it and hangs her upside down on a truck. She is knifed, gutted, her head, tail and legs tossed aside. Some way to treat Australia's national emblem. Juliet Gellatley of Viva!, 2001 The killing of Australia's kangaroos constitutes the biggest land wildlife massacre in the world, surpassed only by the decimation of the American bison in the last century. It its investigation, including trips to Australia in 1998 and 2001 by myself at the invitation of wildlife and animal protection groups over there, Viva! has made a series of discoveries which are amongst the most distressing it has ever come across. The Export Trade in Kangaroo Meat and Skin The official kill rate for export in 2001 is 5.5 million animals, slaughtered mainly for their skin and meat. Official statistics ignore the millions of joeys (young kangaroos) who also die when their mothers are shot, which vastly increases the true scale of the slaughter. When non-commercial and illegal kills are included, together with the large number of road kills, the figure is in the region of 10 million. Viva! ends the UK trade Viva! ran a successful three-year campaign to stop the sale of kangaroo meat from supermarkets in the UK. Sainsbury's was the most determined to keep selling the meat and supplied it nationwide. It vigorously defended the trade but suddenly withdrew one week before Viva! was due to run another Day of Action outside its stores to highlight the suffering caused by the kangaroo killing. The Days of Action involved more than 100 local Viva! groups holding photocalls, demonstrations and talking to the public at any one time at stores all over the nation. Tesco withdrew from the trade after an extensive campaign by Viva!. Somerfield has refrained from introducing kangaroo meat in over 500 stores due to Viva!'s campaign and large contract caterers acknowledged Viva! as the reason they stopped selling the meat. The British public support for Viva!'s campaign was huge, with many people refusing to shop at stores that sold kangaroo meat. This quote from the Australian newspaper, Northern Territory News, shows the success of Viva!'s campaign: 'South Australia-based Australian Meats, one of five major exporters of kangaroo, said that the ban on the sale of meat in Britain had destroyed its $1 million a year export business. The company handed back their export licence and Dennis Grantham, the manager said: "We have stopped production altogether to Britain... we were exporting close to 400 tonnes of kangaroo meat a year. The decision has also affected our exports to other countries including the US.' Further, the Australian meat industry complain in the food press (Food Processor, April/May 1998) (1): "When Viva! successfully lobbied Tesco in the UK to remove kangaroo meat from sale, the deputy Prime Minister and primary industries minister contacted the chairman of Tesco to plainly state that kangaroo meat production meets every required standard. But despite the intervention Tesco still pulled the meat from sale." This illustrates the level of support that the kangaroo industry has in Australia, with politicians at the highest level supporting the killing. The Australian government failed to persuade the British public to support its massacre of kangaroos for meat and so is actively turning to other markets - eg Asia, the USA, Bulgaria, Czech Republic and EU countries such as Germany, France, Belgium and Holland. Australia exported six million kg of kangaroo meat and 2 million kangaroo skins in 1998. In response, Viva! (in cooperation with Australian wildlife groups) will target its campaign to protect Australia's wildlife at the importing countries (and within Australia). Campaigns outside of Australia are essential to stop the sale of 'exotic' meat and skins. As admitted by the above quote, campaigns aimed at the retailers can be effective in protecting the world's wildlife. Kangaroo meat exports 1998 (24, 22) Destination Total Kg Albania 175,230 Austria 493,604 Belgium 466,354 Bulgaria 1,468,947 Brazil 20,302 Switzerland 11,206 China 92,684 Czech Republic 206,244 Germany 407,065 Denmark 1,410 France 303,211 Britain 38,527 Hong Kong 71,193 Indonesia 51,899 Italy 66,931 Japan 98,127 Macau 160,390 Netherlands 505,352 New Zealand 10,510 Papua New Guinea 90,476 Philippines 455,704 Russia 86,130 United States 180,585 Vietnam 21,334 South Africa 364,852 Total meat exports 1998 5,975,067 Total meat exports 1997 3,939,169 Total kangaroo skin exports 98 2,110,963 Total kangaroo skin exports 97 2,649,191 Kangaroo Products and Value The use of kangaroo meat for human consumption has only been legal in South Australia since 1980, in other States the sale of kangaroo meat other than for pet food was not allowed until 1993 when it was legalised in New South Wales. At the same time, mutual recognition legislation came into being, under which products permitted for sale in one state cannot be disallowed in another, making the sale of kangaroo meat in all States possible from that time. As seen above, kangaroos are killed commercially for their meat and skin. In 1998 almost six million kg of kangaroo meat was exported and two million skins. Traditionally, their skin has been used to make football boots and their meat used in pet food. John Kelly of the Kangaroo Industries Association of Australia says: "Many people don't realise that most of the goals kicked in world class soccer are kicked with kangaroo leather." Viva! wonders why the sports shoe companies have not promoted this fact and aims to promote it for them. It seems ironic that Australians don't like kangaroo meat and consistently reject it for human consumption. This is partly why the industry is concentrating its efforts on exporting the country's wildlife for meat. The industry boasts it has found new markets in Russia, Romania and Serbia where kangaroos are reduced to salami and sausages. Other parts of the kangaroo are made into such essential items as bottle openers (paws), wall mounts (heads), purses (scrotum) and golf bags (skin). The industry claims that it employs 4000 people and is worth Australian $200 million (26). This figure does not account for the government support it has received. Tax Payers Fund the Kangaroo Killing In 1999 the Australian government's Ministry of Agriculture launched an initiative to help fund the development of the kangaroo industry. It is administered by the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC) and over half its funds are from tax payers and the rest from industry. The industry is supposed to competitively bid for funding, however information provided to Animals Australia and the Australian Wildlife Protection Council under Freedom of Information legislation shows that decisions on who gets the R&D funds are effectively made by the Kangaroo Industry Association! Jobs for the Boys The RIRDC makes its decisions on funding of kangaroo industry projects by taking advice from the Kangaroo Industry Advisory Council (KIAC), whose chairperson is nominated by the Kangaroo Industry Association! (29) KIAC's other members are representatives of kangaroo meat production/marketing; kangaroo human consumption, meat production and marketing and kangaroo skin production and marketing. There is a single non-industry representative - the RIRDC member of the New Animal Products Program, whose aim is to "accelerate the development of viable new animal industries. One example of a grant - the industry received $170,000 in 1999 to 'improve' kangaroo leather. Minutes of a meeting of the KIAC (24/3/2000) show that a proposal by John Kelly of Lenah Game Meats for funding for 2000/2001 'to improve the kangaroo industry image' was accepted for funding. RIRDC approved a grant of $18500 with a similar amount to be provided by the industry. (29) Kelly is the Development Manager of the Kangaroo Industry Association and its president is Ray Davis. Davis was also the Chair of the KIAC when the grant for Kelly was approved. Kelly states that tax payers money is being used to: "improve public perception of the environmental wisdom, sustainability and responsible controls of the kangaroo harvest, leading to improved sales". He also says: "Ongoing public upimaging of the kangaroo industry is necessary to counter the continued efforts to denigrate it by radical animal liberationists." (29) Australia's federal agriculture minister, Warren Truss, actively promotes the kangaroo killing. He declares in a media release of 13 June 2001: "I refute claims by animal welfare lobbyists that kangaroos are harvested inhumanely and that their meat is unhealthy. (30) He further claims: "Kangaroos are harvested by licensed shooters with a strict code of practice that was produced with the assistance of animal welfare groups." (30) The umbrella group for animal organisations, Animals Australia, responds: "We were asked to comment on the Code about 11 years ago - not one of our proposals was taken up! The Code is not enforced, nor enforceable in remote outback regions. Kangaroos often suffer and many will die in agony. The industry is the shame of Australia." Which Kangaroos are Killed Commercially? It is often a surprise to people first studying the kangaroo debate that the industry kills 7 species of kangaroos and wallabies commercially. Commercially killed animals are: Name of Species States where killed Red Kangaroo (Macropus rufus) Qld, NSW, SA, WA Eastern Grey Kangaroo (M. giganteus) Qld, NSW Western Grey kangaroo (M. fuliginosus) NSW, SA, WA Wallaroo or Euro (M. robustus) Qld, NSW, SA, WA Whiptail Wallaby (M. parryi) Qld Bennetts Wallaby (Macropus rufogriseus) Flinders Island, Tas Tasmanian Pademelon (Thylogale billardierii) Flinders Island, Tas Qld=Queensland NSW=New South Wales SA=Southern Australia WA= Western Australia Tas=Tasmania Kangaroos/wallabies are commercially killed in five States i.e. Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania (17, 32). Other States allow lesser killing by land owners for "damage mitigation", but do not allow larger scale killing for meat/skin. Red kangaroos, Eastern grey and Western grey kangaroos make up 95% of the kill for export (32). John Kelly of Lenah Game Meats, Tasmania, boasts: "Ours is the only state that harvest wallaby, "the veal of kangaroo". Lenah wallabies are all taken from pasture rather than the bush and are no more than three years old." (Mercury, 5 August, 1998) The Law Governing the Kill Under Australian law, the individual states have responsibilty for wildlife management within their state boundaries, whereas the export of all wildlife and wildlife products falls under the provisions of the Wildlife Protection (Regulation of Imports and Exports) Act 1982 with Environment Australia administering the Act and giving advice to the relevant federal Minister (32). In reality, Australian wildlife groups say that Environment Australia (EA) does not protect wildlife - but does the opposite. EA implements legislation designed to ensure that kangaroos are killed, "harvested" and exported. This total exploitation of kangaroos provides a financial profit for Australians prepared to accept the needless killing of the species. Those scientists who advise the Minister for EA make sure that there is no voice for the welfare of kangaroos, tourism or scientists that argue against the "cull". The Australian Wildlife Protection Council says of the EA: "The disregard for important stakeholders like the $6 billion nature-based tourism industry, and breaches of ecological and scientific oversight are indeed very serious. In reality, Environment Australia does not provide legislation to protect kangaroos and no one accepts responsibility for cruelty to them." (See section Enforcing the Code.)

Onto Next Section