Without reservation I support the Australian groups fighting to save the kangaroo. The killing is a disgrace – cruel and entirely profit – motivated. The kangaroo is one of Australia’s original inhabitants, deserving both respect and compassion.”

Sir Paul McCartney

Those seeking to control kangaroos by killing them as “pests” ignore the diversity of the different kangaroo species and their various roles in Australia’s fragile eco- system. There is evidence that some species, such as the red kangaroo, may actually be on the brink of an irreversible population collapse.

Unfortunately some environmentalists promote the myth that it is greener to eat kangaroo. Kangaroos in the wild are not an infinite resource. Nobody knows how long they can survive the onslaught of a profit driven industry intent on turning them into “green’ consumer products. Once wild populations are depleted beyond the point of no return, we will have to live with the loss of this wrongly persecuted species.

Subsistence use of wildlife by indigenous people cannot be compared to the industrial – scale slaughter, for a mass market of people and their pets, plus the ever expanding export trade. Aboriginal culture has a deep spiritual connection to all native wildlife, including kangaroos.

It is impossible to ensure kangaroos are killed quickly, with a head shot. Killing occurs at night, often in remote locations and without supervision. Like all “Codes of Practice” the animals are not monitored at the point of kill, but by spot checks of carcasses in refrigerated containers where they are stored.

As kangaroos’ heads are small targets, and shooters aim from a distance, horrible injuries regularly occur. Shots can hit their mouths, forearms, ears and noses, for example, and the animals can escape only to die slowly of shock and starvation.

The”Code of Practice” offers no protection for the pouch and joeys – at – foot, at all, when their mothers are killed. Tiny hairless in – pouch joeys are killed by being swung against a tree trunk or hit on the head with an iron bar.

The “Code of Practice’ is silent on the fate of orphaned at – foot – joeys, no longer in the pouch, but still need to suckle from their mothers for up to 6 months. Having no commercial use, these joeys are abandoned to die of starvation or attack by predators.

The poor kangaroo has become a convenient scapegoat, to say they are damaging the land is propaganda to promote the widespread slaughter.

It is the over grazing by introduced sheep and cattle, maintained at high densities on the same pastures all year round, which is causing serious land degradation.

The multi – billion dollar livestock industry is loathe to acknowledge their farming practices are damaging the land, and are in the long term, unsustainable.

Eco – tourism, in combination with habitat restoration, has the potential to generate far greater long term benefits to Australia’s economy. A nature focused tourism industry that can promote Australia’s international reputation as a compassionate and environmentally responsible nation.

“It’s embarrassing for Australia that we eat our own wildlife…. I’m here to tell you it’s not right….. Simply do not buy, use or eat kangaroo products.”

Steve Irwin