Kangaroo Management Agencies  simply compare kangaroo populations to what they were in previous years. Since populations appear to be still viable, they state that the kill is sustainable;  Will the Federal Minister Dr David Kemp insist that Wildlife Authorities in each state now measure/reveal the structure of kangaroo populations relative to a set of  control non-culled populations?   

 

1.   Models based on the numerical and functional response of red kangaroos to variation in pasture biomass   with rainfall are used to support the concept of a sustainable yield in the kangaroo industry. This class of models is based on populations of over 80 per square km, which is well in excess of the highest estimates for any management block in NSW.

•  What credence do you place on these models in the management of kangaroos?

•  What alternative models are considered in kangaroo management?

•  How are these models tested against variation in free- living populations?

•  What baseline populations are used to test the impact of the kangaroo industry on natural ecological processes, demography and life- history patterns?  Reference?)

2.   During which year and by whom was it decided that "Australian native wildlife is a renewable resource that would provide a perpetual source of economic benefits for all Australians"?  (Reference?)

3.   Why does the protocol for the killing of kangaroos permit the killing of joeys by bashing on the head, when such a method of euthanasia is not permitted with any other animal?

4.   Why does the protocol for the killing of kangaroos fail to insist upon the dispatch of immature ex-pouch joeys, which are left to die from starvation and/or predation and/or hypothermia and/or psychic depravation?

5.    Why does the protocol for the killing of kangaroos allow the ante-mortem inspection of kangaroos to  be carried out by unqualified shooters instead of qualified inspectors ?

6.     Why has the Federal Environment Minister Dr David Kemp  approved the NSW Kangaroo Management Program when 80% of Public Submissions opposed it?

a. Why are there no independent wildlife conservation biologists who would promote alternative non-lethal, non-consumptive usage of kangaroos, such as tourism, as members of  the tax-payer funded, 'Scientific Committee on Wildlife Use ' and why have only pro-kangaroo industry scientists been chosen?

b. Why does the Commonwealth 'Scientific Committee on Wildlife Use' ignore the $6 billion tourism industry and instead, promote the $200 million per annum kangaroo industry which needs to be heavily subsidized  to be viable, of up to $500,000.00 per year (according to the KIAA) ?

c. Why does the 'Scientific Committee on Wildlife Use'  ignore the fact that the kangaroo is the second most recognised symbol in the world, second only to the Statue of Liberty and that tourists want to see kangaroos alive, not dead?

7. Is the Minister aware that the demand for kangaroo products is either stable or falling because of concerns about cruelty?

8. Is Minister Kemp aware that the 2002 Quota of 6, 942,687 is  the highest in history?

9.  Is the Minister aware that the author of the bible of Environment Australia 'Commercial Harvesting of Kangaroos in Australia', which describes kangaroos as pests  at least 40 times, has made contradictory statements in his scientific  evidence which now concludes  kangaroos are not a  competitive grazing threat to cattle and sheep: " this would  mean that kangaroos are a much smaller component of the 'total  grazing pressure' (TGP )  than is generally accepted ," and" the hope of getting a significant improvement in wool production by  'pest control of kangaroos'  is probably doomed to failure"?(Gordon Grigg,  Australasian Wildlife Management Society Annual General  Meeting, Dubbo, NSW 3-5/ 12/ 2001)

10. Do shooters have to report on accountable for the number of  in-pouch joeys  they bash on the head with an iron pipe each year  and the number of  ex-pouch but still dependent joeys that  escape to certain death when they kill their mothers? How are they accountable? What records are kept?

11. What was the average age of kangaroos by species shot in Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia,  and West Australia in the years 1995 -2001?

12.What was the male/female ratio of kangaroo species shot in Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia and West Australia in the years 1995-2001?

13. What was the average carcass weight by species of kangaroos shot in Queensland, New South Wales, South  Australia and West Australia in the years 1995- 2001?

14.How many females vs males kangaroos were killed in 2001??  How does this value compare to historical records from the kangaroo management programs? How does this value compare to natural mortality in one or more reference populations that are protected from harvesting?

15.What is the current male/female ratio in populations of Red, Eastern Grey and Western Grey kangaroos in Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia and West Australia?  How does this value compare to historical records from the kangaroo management programs? How does this value compare to one or more reference populations that are protected from harvesting?

16.What is the current average  age of Red, Eastern Grey and Western Grey kangaroos in Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia and West Australia? How does this value compare to historical records from the kangaroo management programs? How does this value compare to one or more reference populations that are protected from harvesting?

17.What is the average annual recruitment rate of kangaroos in Red, Eastern Grey and Western Grey populations in Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia, and West Australia? How does this value compare to historical records from the kangaroo management programs? How does this value compare to one or more reference populations that are protected from harvesting?

18.Why is the Code of Practice for Killing Kangaroos not linked to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (POCTAA) in order to make it legally enforceable?

19. Who is responsible for policing cruelty to kangaroos in remote killing zones in outback Australia? 

20.  Why, considering the non-competitive impact of kangaroos on sheep and cattle is the kangaroo industry allowed to continue?  Is the Minister aware that Dr Steve Mc Leod released new findings ( 11.2. 2002)  that commercially harvesting more males than female kangaroos may not result in large reductions in kangaroo populations? ( 'Male Bias in Kangaroo Culls Missing the Mark'  NSW Agriculture)

21.  How can Environment Australia justify its Red kangaroo kill quota when scientific studies at the UNSW recently revealed that Red kangaroo  populations grow by only 6-8 % in 'optimal' good times making  the current quota of 21%  three times the  growth rate , making the 6-8% figure very relevant?

22.  Are inexperienced, new kangaroo shooters more likely to shoot the wrong (too small) kangaroos?

23.  Is  Minister aware that at the  November 2001 South Australian Kangaroo Management Meeting, questions were raised about the small sizes of kangaroos being killed:  " There are not many big 'roos left, just this garbage stuff" & "To see a big kangaroo is a rarity"  "If you keep shooting the big stuff, you only have runts and if you keep this up you will only be left with runts" &  " We are not taking a cull, we are harvesting the best" & "Some skins we get are  the size of handkerchiefs" ?

24.  The kangaroo industry claims that it is well regulated, so we ask how many inspectors are there to police the kangaroo shooters and how many inspections were carried out in each state during 2001?

25.   How many kangaroo carcasses have been inspected to check if cleanly head shot; in what areas did these inspections occur; and by whom were the inspections carried out?

26. Dr Stuart Cairns who undertakes aerial surveys on 'Mulyungarie' property for Mutaroo Pastoral Company, states they kill up to 80% males, topped up with a few does, while 'crack shot' shooter Peter Absalom, allegedly is adamant that he kills 70% female kangaroos and  that  no large Red kangaroos are seen. This model for kangaroo 'sustainable' kangaroo harvesting, has NOT de-stocked and is continuing to degrade the land. Why has Mulyungarie not de-stocked their sheep and cattle while claiming to 'farm' kangaroos?

27.   By what processes does Environment Australia implement the Precautionary Principle to preserve and ensure natural selection bio-diversity; what is the basis of their natural conservation strategy?

28. Does the Minister accept that the commercial killing of kangaroos in Australia is having a serious effect on eco-tourism?  Will the Minister investigate rangelands tourism as an alternative to commercial killing?

29. Given that the Kangaroo Industry has full knowledge of RSPCA 'once in a blue moon' inspections, how many kangaroos are really fatally shot throughout Australia and how   many of those non-fatally shot, escape to die in misery?

30. Why is no one trying to ascertain this in a proper scientific manner so that Australians know what immense suffering is happening to kangaroos, in their name?