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How Many
Kangaroos are Killed?
The general trend since the early 1970's has been a steady
increase in the number of animals killed commercially, from
885,000 in 1975 to 5.5 million a year today.
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Legal kangaroo commercial kill
quotas 1975 to 2001:
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1975
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885,000
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1980
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2.9 million
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1990
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3.9 million
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1998
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4.1 million
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1999
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5.7 million
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2000
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5.5 million
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2001
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5.5 million
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THESE QUOTAS ARE FOR EXPORT ONLY AND DO NOT REPRESENT THE
TOTAL NUMBER OF KANGAROOS KILLED. (Note that the kangaroo industry
quote these commercial killing figures for export as if they
were the total kill.)
In addition, millions more animals are legally killed non-commercially.
The extent of the non-commercial kill can be shown by the Tasmanian
wallaby kill figures, where more than 1 million animals were
shot in one year non-commercially - when the official quota
was set at 250,000. In 1986, the Queensland government stated
that the legal non-commercial kill in addition to the quota
was 500,000. By 1991 a Queensland National Parks and Wildlife
Officer estimated that:
"1 million kangaroos are shot annually in that state in addition
to the commercial quota."
The illegal kill is also not accounted for in the quota figures;
nor are the joeys in the pouches and young at foot who always
die when their mothers are shot.
According to the Australian Wildlife Protection Council:
"...the number of kangaroos and wallabies actually killed each
year is as high as TWICE THAT OF THE FEDERALLY SET COMMERCIAL
QUOTA."
In other words in 2001, the government set official quota for
the number of kangaroos to be killed is 5.5 million; in reality
in the region of 10 million kangaroos will be slaughtered.
Cruelty to Kangaroos
The following statement is typical of the Australian government
and multiple retailers that sold kangaroo meat in the UK and
still sell it abroad:
Retailer: " ....the sale of kangaroo meat in no way causes undue
stress to the animals".
Below, this report examines different aspects of animal welfare
in relation to the kangaroo slaughter, in answer to statements
released by Sainsbury's when they sold the meat and the Australian
High Commission, UK.
Retailer: "The professional shooters involved in the cull are
licensed and fully trained. They must comply with strict government
laws demanding a code of conduct."
Kangaroos are supposed to be killed by licensed shooters who
are supposed to understand a Code of Practice governing the
killing. The statement above implies that all kangaroos killed
for meat/skin are shot by professional shooters. This is not
the case. In fact, according to the Australian Wildlife Protection
Council many shooters are itinerant part-timers. A pro-industry
report confirms this, stating: "shooters are almost always self-employed"
and they are mainly part-time because kangaroo products are
"low-value". (32)
In addition, the illegal trade supplies a substantial number
of animals for meat/skin.
The Code the AHC and retailers refer to is the 'Code of Practice
for the Humane Shooting of Kangaroos' (31). However - the reason
it is called a code is because it is precisely that. It is a
guideline for shooters to follow but lacks any clout in law.
The National Kangaroo Campaign, Australia state:
"The code is a voluntary code only and no provision exists in
it for permits/licences to be suspended in the event of failure
to adhere to the code."
The code falls down badly in many areas and has done nothing
to lessen the concern for the level of cruelty to kangaroos.
For example:
Joeys
The Australian High Commission, London, claims; "the Government
code demands that joeys are put down immediately and humanely".
Mother kangaroos often have a joey in pouch and a joey at foot
- neither can survive without her. The code states that pouch
young of a shot female 'must also be killed. Decapitation with
a sharp instrument in very small hairless young or a properly
executed heavy blow to destroy the brain in larger young...or
by a shot to the brain' must be used. When I was in Australia,
amateur hunters admitted to cases of joeys being used as footballs;
to stamping on joeys heads (but not killing them); to using
crowbars or bashing their heads against a wheel brace or just
leaving them to die.
(Even for those joeys which are dragged out of their mother's
pouch and killed according to the code's recommendations - I
hardly think that the Commission's description of 'put down'
conjures up the reality.)
The code does not even make a reference to how older joeys should
be dealt with! They are completely dependant on their mothers
for milk, warmth in the cold winter nights, protection from
predation and emotional support. Without their mothers, they
are left to die of starvation or cold or from predation. (25)
Dr John Auty BVSc has studied the killing of kangaroos in all
Australian States. He firmly maintains that:
"Shooters often have a thorough contempt of the law and the
Code. They commit cruelty on a regular basis."
Dr Auty's credentials to speak on this subject are far more
persuasive than Sainsbury's. He has post graduate qualifications
in veterinary science and was Chief Agronomist in the Northern
Territory; Assistant Director of the Australian Bureau of Animal
Health and has worked in the outback for many years where he
studied kangaroos.
Viva!'s research shows that the killing of joeys is obscene
and unavoidably cruel.
Other failures of the code to protect kangaroos include the
fact that:
- Some firearms used are unsuitable e.g. shotguns and small
rifles when used on wallabies are unlikely to cause instant
death.
Laws relating to the killing of kangaroos vary between states
and some laws contradict the code. For example, in Western
Australia there is an open season where shooters can operate
without a licence and do not have to stick to the code.
Most of all, wildlife authorities do not have the ability
to enforce the code. There are not enough staff to cover
the vast distances and they rely on the shooters to keep
them informed.
Source: National Kangaroo Campaign, Australia
Most telling is the code itself, which states: "No matter
how carefully the shooter aims, some kangaroos will not be
killed outright." (31)
Enforcing the Code
The kangaroo industry state that to enforce the code of conduct:
"National Parks & Wildlife Rangers CONSTANTLY conduct
unannounced inspections."
This is nonsense. Even if the wildlife authorities had powers
to enforce the code they could not use them as the shooting
takes place at night in remote areas without monitoring.
The Australian Wildlife Protection Council says: "the code
of practice is legally unenforceable."
The number of kangaroos allowed to be killed in New South
Wales in 1998 was 1.3 million and yet in 1997 the NSW Parks
Law Enforcement Officers were being reduced from a mere 8
down to 6. (18)
And in any case, in direct contradiction to the kangaroo industry's
claim, the New South Wales National Parks & Wildlife Service
state:
"Cruelty to kangaroos are regulated and dealt with under the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals legislation....NPWS does
not have direct access to or maintain records on prosecutions
under that legislation". (8 December 1996)
Cruelty to kangaroos is ignored by wildlife authorities at
both State and Federal level.
Further, commonwealth powers in relation to wildlife are restricted
to the control of exports under Wildlife Protection (Regulation
of Exports & Imports) Act 1982. This allows no power to
link cruelty or animal welfare to decisions made as to the
number of kangaroos being killed for export (17, 19).
Under Fire
"Kangaroos are strictly protected" Australian High Commission.
Men drive though the bush in four wheel drives, searching
for wild kangaroos which they illuminate with powerful searchlights.
They are then shot, supposedly in the head. For many animals
it is the throat or neck, leaving them struggling and still
conscious when they are dragged to the truck. A kangaroo shooter
of 20 years who moved to London, UK told Viva! in 1998 (and
reiterated a similar quote to the London Evening Standard
in 2001):
"We often shot kangaroos in the leg because it was a much
easier target than the head. You hoped that it would slow
them enough to find them and finish them off. That could take
some time. I've seen kangaroos running with their guts spilling
out.... I'm not proud of what I've done; I just wanted to
tell you that the kangaroo industry is lying."
Some animals are still alive when their leg is sliced open,
a hook is inserted through the gash and they are hauled up
onto the truck. Their throat/chest is then slit. The shooter
stops from time to time and guts the kangaroos, the head,
limbs and tail are chopped off and discarded. The skin is
left on until the dead animal reaches the processing works.
(32) The carcasses are supposed to be delivered to a chiller,
usually at a local town depot before high temperatures help
further rotting. They are then taken to a processing plant
where skins are pulled off and taken to a tannery to make
leather and the carcasses butchered for meat. What is left
of Australia's national emblem goes to make fertiliser.
Even for an experienced shooter, the small kangaroo head is
a difficult target, especially at night with the dazzle of
spotlights distorting vision. In 1985 the Australian RSPCA
carried out a survey into the kangaroo industry, paid for
by government. The RSPCA warn that their results were distorted
because "the shooters volunteering information were considered
the cleanest in the industry". Even so, they found that "at
least 15% of kangaroos killed commercially die inhumanely".
They say the true figure is much higher.
The Australian RSPCA said in 1997:
"The RSPCA opposes the killing of kangaroos for economic purposes...the
incidence of cruelty is too high to be justified...we are
campaigning against the quota system and the industry it sustains".
(20)
Amazingly, the kangaroo industry often states that the RSPCA
supports the commercial kill. In 1999, Peter Barber, Director
of the Victorian State RSPCA put the record straight. He said:
"In its 1985 report, the RSPCA voiced its concern over the
high incidence of inhumane kills. For some self-promoting
reason several people have interpreted the report as an endorsement
of the kangaroo industry. This is completely untrue, in fact,
absurd."
"The RSPCA has steadfastly opposed the quota system and the
killing of kangaroos for economic purposes. The industry has
not identified that any improvements have been made since
the RSPCA report was written and, in any case, as with other
self-regulated industries, proper regulation and standards
cannot be guaranteed." (22)
If a shooter is a poor shot it simply means he uses a few
extra rounds of ammunition, using living animals for target
practice, many of which will limp off into the bush to die
a painful death. In Britain, the use of shot guns with a wide
spread of shot, have been consistently decried as an undesirable
way of killing foxes by the hunting lobby. Yet in Australia,
the single shot of a rifle is portrayed as a humane and infallible
method of killing kangaroos.
One thing is certain, such a method of killing farmed animals
and their young carried out under similar conditions would
not be tolerated in the UK and would be seen as what it is
- an animal welfare outrage.
Video footage filmed by IFAW Australia shows a middle-aged
man, an 'experienced' unlicensed but commercial killer, and
his son of about 10 years old, killing kangaroos and joeys.
It is evidence of just one night's slaughter and contains
numerous instances of blatant cruelty:
1. The majority of kangaroos shot are hit in the throat and
do not die instantly.
2. The child stands on the face of a wounded, conscious kangaroo
as the shooter cuts into its leg in order to place a hook
through it.
3. A kangaroo is shot in the throat, hung onto the truck by
a hind leg and the truck is driven away with the animal still
gasping for breath.
4. A joey is pulled out of the pouch of his dying mother.
The shooter comments: "You'd better turn the camera off,"
as he stamps on the baby's head. The child then also casually
twists his foot on its head but the joey is still alive and
moaning after these crude attempts to kill it.
6. The shooter allows a pouched young to escape into the bush
where it will certainly die.
7. The shooter boasts about shooting pelicans, a protected
species of wallaby and tries to shoot at a moving fox. And
so it continues....
(For a copy of the footage, contact Viva!.)
The shooters may work through most of the night. If the killing
is for skin only, often the case in Queensland, the shooters
stops from time to time to skin the animals, leaving the carcass.
He may kill over 100 kangaroos per night. In NSW and WA, shooting
only for skins is illegal and the number of kangaroos slaughtered
in one night is limited by what the truck can carry, usually
50. (32)
Why Are Kangaroos
Killed?
Australian wildlife, including kangaroos, is under serious
threat from Australian government policy, which now states:
"Australian native wildlife is a renewable resource. If managed
in an ecologically sustainable manner, wildlife can provide
a perpetual source of economic benefits for all Australians."
Two main reasons have been given to Viva! by the industry
for killing kangaroos. These are:
1. Kangaroos are a major wheat crop pest and
2. Kangaroos compete with sheep/cattle for resources
These statements are untrue and do not justify the largest
wildlife massacre this planet has ever seen. Let's look at
each statement in turn.
1. "Kangaroos no longer exist in wheat areas as they have
long since been killed off." (Australian Wildlife Protection
Council) (23).
A four year study of Grey kangaroos in Western Australia by
CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organisation)
found that 95 per cent of wheat crops are never visited by
kangaroos (2). Also few kangaroos wander more than 400 metres
from their home range in the bush. The study found that kangaroos
have virtually no impact on the country's crops, despite claims
by farmers that they are a major crop pest and further, the
study recommended that farmers who have natural bush land
on their property encourage its growth to help keep the kangaroos
fed.
Dr Graham Arnold, former Senior Principle Research Scientist,
CSIRO, Division of Wildlife and Ecology, who studied the impact
of kangaroos on croplands, stated in 1998:
"Most kangaroos did not like to eat farm crops and would only
thrive if given access to their natural foods.........Unless
the community manages remnant vegetation to minimise degradation
and enhance the regeneration of native plants, kangaroos and
some other native species will disappear from much of Western
Australia over the next 100 years."
He also said:
"All the land cleared for farming in Western Australia was
habitat for one or more species of kangaroos, wallabies and
their relatives. Today, five species are extinct throughout
the wheatbelt and four species are found only in a few locations."
(22)
Furthermore, a study of the kangaroo killing zones quickly
reveals that kangaroos are largely commercially shot in areas
where they are NOT seen as a problem to crop growers. Instead,
commercial killing takes place in regions of extensive grazing.
These areas produce almost no crops and account for only 10
per cent of Australia's meat production. (22) Dr Arnold states:
"Due to the marginal nature of these areas {where kangaroos
are killed commercially for meat and skin}, stocking rates
of {sheep or cattle} are traditionally very low. Properties
need to be enormous. Indeed, publicity given to property owners
in these areas in the outback show that the kangaroo, even
if in large numbers, could only be placed very low on a long
list of environmental and economic factors effecting their
livelihood".
Yet farmers and the Australian government regularly refer
to kangaroos as pests. Dr Arnold responds:
"Pests is an emotive word. It conjures up visions of animals
destroying crops. I can think of no situations where this
is likely to be true for kangaroos." (22)
2. The second main reason given for slaughtering kangaroos
is that they compete for resources with cattle and sheep.
A six year study by Dr Steven McLeod at the University of
New South Wales (3) is the most comprehensive of its type
and thoroughly examines whether the presence of red kangaroos
negatively impacts on sheep. When I gave interviews in Australia
on the kangaroo trade, the industry's, farmers, politicians
and some journalists most favourite excuse for the killing
was that kangaroos would eat sheep out of house and home if
left to their own devices. According to Dr McLeod some studies
previous to his have suggested that kangaroos and sheep compete
for food, but none have been conclusive. His study is the
first to examine this hypothesis properly. In a nutshell,
he finds that:
"There was no evidence of a competitive effect of red kangaroos
on sheep." (3)
This was true even in drought conditions. In the winter of
1991 when the study region was officially declared as drought
stricken by the government of NSW, the study found no competition
for food between sheep and red kangaroos. The study concluded
that red kangaroos do not effect the body mass, wool growth,
reproductive output of sheep or the growth and survivorship
of lambs. In fact, it was found that red kangaroos "consistently
avoid areas used by sheep" and that sheep have a negative
impact on kangaroos!
Further, Ingrid White who was awarded the Australian Post-Graduate
Award for her PhD, started field research for her thesis,
Spatio-temporal interaction of mammalian herbivores in the
arid zone, in 1994 at UNSW Arid Zone Research Station Fowlers
gap, Broken Hill.
She states:
"Like several other researchers before me, working in the
same study area located on a commercial sheep station in the
outback of New South Wales and working under real conditions,
in real paddocks and with real stocking rates, I found little
evidence for detrimental effects of kangaroo on the domestic
sheep or vegetation. And this, despite the kangaroos not having
been culled as a "pest" species for more than 30 years - and
the kangaroos equalling or surpassing the numbers of sheep
stocked on the station." (22)
Clearly, the reality is the opposite to that which the meat
industry would have us believe. And the whole basis upon which
the kangaroo massacre has gained public tolerance in Australia
is false.
Population Matters
The kangaroo meat industry contradicts itself in its claims
over why kangaroos are killed. On the one hand they state
they the animals need to be killed to keep their numbers in
check. On the other, they claim that killing kangaroos conserves
the species and increases numbers. They cannot have it both
ways!
There is no evidence to show that kangaroos are commercially
killed for meat and skin today as a method of population control.
(See 'Quotas - a Cynical PR Exercise' below.)
This claim of 'population control' becomes particularly hollow
when you realise that the kangaroos are not 'culled'. A genuine
cull aims to reduce the size of a population and involves
killing whole family groups. It may involve killing the old,
sick, diseased and lame animals. In the case of the commercial
kangaroo slaughter - only the largest and fittest animals
are shot and usually more males are killed (because they are
bigger); leaving young females to breed rapidly. The commercial
killing industry is not an organised cull working with the
best interests of the kangaroo at its heart!
The late Dr Peter Rawlinson, zoologist at La Trobe University,
Melbourne, said:
"Kangaroo culling programs, completely disregard the age and
sex structure of herds, and for this reason cannot be taken
seriously.... Professional hunters shoot mainly large adult
males, because these animals earn them the most money."
The estimates of the population sizes of the most commonly
killed species of kangaroo vary enormously. In 1983 Barry
Cohen, then Minister for the Environment, Australia stated
that there were 21 million kangaroos; in the same year the
National Farmers Federation claimed there were 30 million!
In 1998 the Australian High Commission in London stated that
there were over 50 million kangaroos. This is a ludicrous
figure and not supported by Australia's Federal Department
of the Environment which quoted a total of 19 million animals
in the same year. The industry estimated that there were 27
million animals in an interview with myself in 1998. In 2001
they stated that there are 35 or 50 million animals (27);
40 million (28) and 50 million (26)! It is in the killers
interests to quote a high number - so even if 35 million were
accurate; this is not a high number for a country the size
of Australia; nor is it a large number when you consider in
the region of 10 million kangaroos were killed last year.
(Includes commercial, non-commercial and illegal shootings,
joey deaths due to mothers being shot and road kills.)
In any event, averaging the staggeringly variable estimates
of kangaroo population sizes over the past 30 years, shows
that the population has NOT increased and until recently has
remained fairly constant, except during severe droughts (e.g.
in 1982-83 it dropped to only 11 million). However, there
are worrying signs of populations falling today. For example,
in New South Wales (NSW) the percentage of all species of
kangaroos killed has increased over the last decade. 19% of
Eastern Greys are shot and 21% of Western Greys (risen from
14% in the 1980s). Also, in 1996 the NSW kill was the highest
on record, whilst the population was the lowest for 11 years.
(21)
Due to the steady increase in the size of the annual massacre
and the decrease in habitat, numbers are set to fall nationwide.
The population estimates above are for the main species of
kangaroos killed; there are many other macropod species which
are endangered or vulnerable. Furthermore, kangaroo expert
Dr John Auty BVSc claims that the current population size
of the main species of 19 to 35 million today is far less
than the numbers which existed when the Europeans first settled
in Australia. In other words, the industry's portrayal of
the kangaroo being in 'plague proportions' is a convenient
but false assertion.
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