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SUBMISSION TO THE ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS TRIBUNAL
By Maryland Wilson

National Animal Welfare Strategy

THE ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS TRIBUNAL
55 Market Street, Sydney 2000
March 17-26, 2004

 

Submitted by
Maryland Wilson, President
Australian Wildlife Protection Council Inc.
247 Flinders Lane, Melbourne 3000 Victoria

Cruelty to kangaroos is ostensibly assessed at the processing plants, but such cruelty is unmonitored and unpoliced at the point of slaughter, which is where most cruelty breaches occur.
Body shot and wounded kangaroos are not brought to the processors by shooters, so these kangaroos are not counted as part of the blatantly flawed cruelty statistics: those kangaroos inhumanely shot are left to die, as too, are the at-foot, but still dependent joeys, which are ignored by wildlife authorities, government scientists, a deficient Code Of Practice and a heavily subsidised kangaroo killing industry.
In-pouch joeys are hit on the head, bashed or clubbed to death.
" To harvest a sustained yield from a population at steady density, it must first be manipulated in some way to promote the rate of increase. Rates of harvest may be raised to levels at which they can cause the extinction of the population. Arguments will be confounded when there are non-consumptive values attached to the resource such as for tourism "
'Commercial Harvesting of Kangaroos in Australia' by Gordon Grigg and Tony Pople see page 12

*Minutes of South Australian Kangaroo Management Program PUBLIC MEETING 5 November 1998

AQIS ( Australian Quarantine & Inspection Service) Meat Inspector Eddie Andriessen
* "At the end of the day, I'm not going to stand and argue about whether head shooting or body shooting is an acceptable form of destruction for a wild animal. Head shooting must be the way to go. If by chance you happen to only injure the animal, and you have to body shoot it, then there's probably only one choice but to leave it there. You'll have to record you've shot it, but you'll have to leave it there because we do not want to see it in the processing works."

*'The Kangaroo BETRAYED!'
Kangaroo BETRAYED page 3 para 8 Georges
Kangaroo BETRAYED page 6 para 4,5,6 Singer
Kangaroo BETRAYED page 8 to 9 para 7, 8, 15 Wilson
Kangaroo BETRAYED pages 17-18 para all Kennedy
Kangaroo BETRAYED page 24 to 27 para 21,22,23,24,28 Arnold
Kangaroo BETRAYED page 35 para all Denny
Kangaroo BETRAYED page 37 to 38 para 2,4,5 Reilly
Kangaroo BETRAYED page 19 para Last 4 Thiriet

PART 1 CRUELTY
ANIMAL WELFARE? HUMANE KANGAROO SHOOTING? A FARCICAL CODE OF PRACTICE? IT'S TIME TO STOP DEFENDING AUSTRALIA'S KANGAROO KILLING & KANGAROO INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA (KIAA) SUBSIDIES. STOP THE PROPAGANDA, LIES AND DECEPTIONS! STOP THE BRUTALITY AND CRUELTY!
STOP KILLING OUR KANGAROOS !

Animal Welfare
" Kangaroo killing is regulated under the Code of Practice for the Humane Shooting of Kangaroos, however the Code is virtually unenforceable given that most shooting is done at night, often in remote areas. The combination of illegal killings, the predominance of less skilled part-time shooters and the financial incentive to fill individual licence quotas results in a high incidence of cruelty."

A Survey of the extent of Compliance with the Requirements of the Code of Practice for the Humane Shooting of Kangaroos, prepared for Environment Australia by RSPCA Australia, July 2002 found that, despite the Code, over 112, 000 of the kangaroos submitted to processing plants by commercial shooters die inhumanely estimated conservatively on a 4.1% of the lower total numbers killed in 2000) This figure does NOT include animals which are killed inhumanely and not retrieved, or the wounded animals which manage to escape. The cruelty of the trade also extends to the young whose mothers are shot: they are dispatched by a blow to the head, or left to die of starvation or predation. (Animals Today Volume 10 Number 4, 2002 Page 31)

Page 6 National Animal Welfare Strategy * ( Department Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry)
'The welfare of all animals in Australia is promoted and protected by the development and adoption of sound animal welfare standards and practices, " according to the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture. They say 'An increasing recognition in the community that animals have an intrinsic value; Australia's diverse and unique native animals, many of which figure prominently in indigenous culture; The ongoing tourism importance of Australia's diverse and unique native animals; The strong cultural and sporting significance of animals, including the use of animals as subject across the arts and as icons for our sporting teams; '

They say: The Senate Select Committee that was established in 1983 set a precedent for openness and inclusiveness in dealing with animal welfare. WE DISAGREE !
WE SAY: We give another version of what actually happened in the Senate Select Committee when the Chair of the Senate Select Committee George Georges left after serving for 3 and a half years in that capacity.
We Table as evidence: "The Kangaroo BETRAYED!"

See Page 3 PREFACE by former Senator George Georges Chair Senate Committee **

    …Senate Committee on Animal Welfare Inquiring into Kangaroos, released Conclusions and Recommendations unsympathetic to the welfare of kangaroos. (Senators George Georges and Norm Sanders in Minority Reports) One of three former members remained and new Committee "stacked" to favour farmers . In a dissenting report, Senator Norm Sanders, said that inquiry should not have framed its recommendations based on pragmatism. He called for the industry to be closed. "The welfare of the kangaroos, our national animal, must be placed ahead of commercial interests and inept bureaucrats."

    • Senate Committee on Animal Welfare accused of bias. Senator George Georges, who Chaired the Inquiry for three and a half years, writes in his Statement of inclusion in the record, …"I find the conclusions and recommendations of the final report hard to accept and unsympathetic to the welfare of the animal which is being examined. The protection of our wildlife is a national responsibility. "
    • " The Senate should re-establish a Senate Select Committee on Animal Welfare with special reference for the protection of our indigenous wildlife. "

" On the one hand we encourage our young people to plant millions of trees to regenerate our forests, birds and animals which will inhabit these areas are under increasing pressure from commercial exploitation The moves to give to struggling landholders the ownership of the wildlife on their properties for commercial exploitation must be resisted strongly. The devastating effects of commercial harvesting is an example of this exploitation."

"The industry was established as a clever means of kangaroo management for the benefit of farmers. But, as anticipated the industry took on a life of its own with its monstrous Agenda . It sought increased quotas, and promoted greater markets. As a result this year (1999) the legal quota has reached almost 6 million kangaroos, the highest on record. If you add to this the illegal killing of kangaroos then Australia must accept that they are responsible for the greatest wildlife slaughter on earth."

"…The nature and method of slaughter cannot be ignored. It is barbaric and inhumane. Each night thousands of animals are butchered, many are maimed, the young in pouch are cruelly dispatched and the young at foot left to fend for themselves. Any reasonable person would not wish to be a party to this slaughter by purchasing kangaroo products."
The commercial killing of kangaroos must cease and other methods introduced to control their populations if necessary. " Senator Georges Chaired the Senate Committee from December 9th 1983 to June 5th, 1987.

Page 6 FOREWORD by Professor Peter Singer, AWPC International Patron

ETHICS AND KILLING WILDLIFE

" Let us consider whether it is ethically justifiable to kill wild animals, not as a necessity for survival, but in order to profit for their meat and skins…Those who exploit kangaroos, for example, seek to show that the "resource" is being "harvested" on a "sustainable" basis. Kangaroos then, have value only if they can provide commercial profit and the exploiters want to ensure that the kangaroos survive so they can continue to be exploited."
" Those who see kangaroos only as a resource overlook the ethical aspects of how we are treating other sentient beings. Several hundred thousand kangaroos die inhumanely every year. There is also the suffering of the joeys, who are orphaned when their mother's are shot and upon whom they depend for the survival. In the light of this suffering, whatever views one may have about the rights and wrongs of eating other animals, it should not be too difficult to see that there are special reasons for not eating kangaroos or supporting the kangaroo trade in any other way!

The Cruelty and suffering that we have already seen in the native animal industries means that this is no longer an experiment. Hundreds of thousands of kangaroos each year are not killed humanely, emu chicks in Western Australia are 'de-toed' without anaesthesia to reduce risks to handlers, and possums in Tasmania are trapped, transported and killed over s period that now has blown out to anything up to 48 hours. Such trades are ethically and environmentally flawed and are opposed by animal welfare organisations around the world.
The trade in wildlife is a trade based on profit, without any place for compassion."

The 1998 Woodley Senate Inquiry provided a vehicle to legitimise kangaroos as a resource;
Page 19 from ANIMALS AUSTRALIA (The Kangaroo BETRAYED!)
"Most readers of the Senate Report will be concerned by recommendations for the introduction of streamlined administrative requirements in order to increase the efficiency and to ensure no unnecessary hindrances to the industry" The reports' section on macropods makes for particularly frustrating reading as it clearly supports current kangaroo industry practice.

Throughout that section, the Senate Committee appears to have considered public submissions in a very biased fashion: while it repeatedly criticises claims by groups and individuals opposed to kangaroo killing as 'emotive', 'exaggerated', deriving from a 'strong vocal minority' and 'not based on rigorous scientific information'. It quotes representatives of the kangaroo industry without any such reservation.
The report even features a section where allegedly false claims by anti-killing groups are 'redressed' by the Kangaroo Industry Association of Australia.( KIAA) Clearly the Senate Committee has found it easier to believe that the overwhelming majority of submissions opposed to kangaroo killing was simply derived from a vocal misinformed minority.
While the issue of animal welfare was NOT included in the inquiry's terms of reference, the Committee received a large number of submissions expressing concerns about the cruelty involved in kangaroo killing and lack of enforcement of the Code of Practice. Yet, the Committee appears to have dismissed all these concerns in favour of ONE shooters' statement that day and night spot checks by law enforcement officers are ensuring a high level of compliance in the industry.

This Federal Inquiry comprised of Rural based Senators, Chaired by Queensland Senator John Woodley, is a disaster for our native birds and animals. The Report disregarded Submissions from the majority of the 340 opposed to the commercial trade in wildlife. Their comments "in Australia there is a strong and vocal minority who believe there should be no commercial use of wildlife" and " big game hunting of native birds and animals is rarely promoted, in spite of the benefits…" (only 2 submissions proposed big game hunting)… this epitomises the intent of the Inquiry!

To further justify dismissing the cruelty issue in the industry, the Committee states that the situation is worse in Unregulated non-commercial 'harvests'. While this is likely to be true, nevertheless severe cruelty in the latter should be no excuse for any cruelty in the former.

Animals Australia, on behalf of its member groups, has publicly condemned the report. Regrettably the Federal Government continues to allow the slaughter for profit of Australia's best known animal - the kangaroo. Hundreds of thousands of adult kangaroos suffer prior to death each year at the hands of the 'industry.' Our entire community is degraded as a result.

Page 17/18 MICHAEL KENNEDY Executive Director HSI International (The Kangaroo BETRAYED!)
THE VALUE OF WILDLIFE IS IN ITS' NON-CONSUMPTIVE USE

  • Dr Graeme Webb ( Wildlife Management International) makes great play of the outcomes of the Senate Inquiry (name change to Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee) into the 'Commercial USE of Australian Wildlife', which reported to the Parliament in June 1998. He states for example, that the inquiry called for 'fundamental changes in our approach to wildlife conservation" but close scrutiny of the recommendations does not bear this out.

" The conservative and biologically inept nature of the recommendations from a Committee more concerned with rural economics than wildlife were disturbing but not surprising and brought a speedy and vigorous Minority Report from Senator Andrew Bartlett who noted the 'misreading of the evidence and of the breadth and nature of community concerns with the commercial use of Australia's wildlife" and that "most of the evidence and submissions in favour of commercialisation were driven by potential economic gains"

"The Committee's primary concern for the economic wellbeing of the rural community is highlighted by its corruption of the interpretation of the precautionary principle laid down in the Convention on Biological Diversity, asserting that 'lack of detailed information about a species should not be used as an argument against the commencement of commercialisation on a trial basis."
"Flying in the face of all international law and ecological requirements, this statement merely reflects the Committee's parroting of Webb's "let's suck it and see" management philosophy to exploiting our wildlife - science and biological management at its best !!"
"Wildlife of course can be utilised for the benefit of all Australians but this can only be achieved appropriately through non-consumptive means. Nobody seriously believes these days that kangaroos are at the centre of land degradation problems nor that the massive export industries that rely on killing kangaroos every year are merely 'pest control programs'. They are purely commercial industries eager to satisfy any market desiring their product. The moral and ethical issues intertwined with this debate must be fully brought into account." Michael Kennedy HIS

Page 24 -27 'MEMORIES OF THE KILLING FIELDS' By Sue Arnold (" The Kangaroo BETRAYED!")
'The kangaroo remains a protected species - another sick joke - protected like the other unique wildlife facing extinction, the koala, the bilby, the list goes on and on. Australia has the highest rate of mammalian extinction in the world"
The kangaroo is a symbol of Australia. A bloody symbol of a nation whose leaders turned away from their moral, social and environmental responsibility. The kangaroos' fate will be shared by the remaining unique wildlife in this great continent. Deliberate , politically induced extinction so that a few may gain a lot from the death of a species.

" We're killing kangaroos to contain agricultural damage" , was the catchcry. " They're eating the farmers out of house and home". That didn't sound right. I had lived on the land, working a beef property near Scone NSW for nearly seven years. I knew about kangaroos.

As an investigative journalist, I took on the challenge of evaluating and researching this incredible social bias against these magnificent animals. A bias which translated into some of the worst and most bloody minded cruelty I had ever witnessed. Kangaroos had become a national leper in a society that had no mercy. Didn't seem to matter if you herded the poor buggers into paddocks and massacred them, or poisoned or wounded them, or drove over them, crucified them, jammed them on stakes or starved them to death. Or tied them to the back of a ute, alive. There was no end to the cruelty practiced by the good old fashioned Aussie male. If it was a kangaroo, then that was sufficient grounds to torture, maim and destroy.

Out in the killing fields, it was the same story. On many occasions, I went on field trips with kangaroo shooters, always using one of my professional activities as a journalist, documentary film maker, or writer as my passport. Several times I took out a television crew and a photographer to document the cruelty we witnessed.

Some things were intolerable, they will remain forever etched on my soul. Like the sight of a kangaroo staked on the back of a truck, upside down, alive. The dreadful sounds of a joey being bashed to death against a tree, of boots stomping down on young ones wrenched out of the safety of their mother's pouch."

Page 35 Culling Cruelty and the Code - Dr Martin Denny

" A precise definition of cruelty is difficult to obtain. The word "cruel" is obtained from the Latin crudelem, meaning morally rough, and is defined by the Ozford English Dictionary as " Disposed to inflict suffering: different to or taking pleasure in another's pain: merciless, pitiless, hard-hearted ". This definition differs little from that used over 200 years ago by Samuel Johnson. In his dictionary, published in 1755, he defines cruel as " Pleased with hurting others: inhuman; hard-hearted; without pity; without compassion; savage; barbarous; unrelenting."

"Thus, a better definition may be found within the legal world where Acts of parliament define the level of cruelty acceptable to our society. Thus, the definition of cruelty contained within the Victorian Protection of Animal Act ( 1966) provides a basis for assessing incidences during kangaroo culling. " Cruelty means the infliction upon an animal of pain that in its kind or its degree or its object or its circumstances is unreasonable".

A similar definition has been used by the RSPCA ( United Kingdom) - " cruelty should be understood to mean the imposition by man of unnecessary suffering on any animal" - Thus the words "unnecessary" and "unreasonable" become linked to cruelty, and provide a basis for assessing incidences of cruelty to kangaroos and wallabies"

On the other hand, " humane" is reasonably precisely defined. The shorter Oxford Dictionary defines humane as "Applied to certain instruments, etc. which inflict less pain than the others of their kind." Thus a method which inflicts less pain than others may be considered as humane. This does not remove the fact that a method (of culling) may cause pain, but it places a method into the context of relative degree of pain. In the past ( and unfortunately occasionally in the present) many methods of culling kangaroos have inflicted unnecessary suffering upon an animal."

Page 37 FROM CONSERVATION TO EXPLOITATION IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Doug Reilly, Macropod Expert

"For over 40 years, I have taken a particular interest in this marvellous marsupial. In my youth I became deeply fascinated with kangaroos and began rescuing and raising orphaned and injured animals from the age of seven. Even in later years when I moved to college and university in Adelaide, I returned to this wonderful desert area during holidays to continue my study of these animals. It is in this region that the major "culling" of kangaroos is now undertaken in South Australia. It is this long association and with extended observations of the changes that have occurred in the wild populations that I fear for the future of the wild animal populations in Australia.

The introduction of the commercial kill in South Australia in 1984 began the change from conservation to exploitation of the species and an inevitable threat to the future of wild animal populations where commercial dictates would, in time subsume any attempt at conservation and independent research of the animals. The conflicts of interest include the government department responsible for protection ( National Parks and Wildlife) being on charge of both the conservation of the animal and the administration and destruction of the animal by determining the number of kangaroos to be destroyed under the commercial cull.

The whole harvest program has been a failure as a conservation measure as animals have not been reduced in these areas but have increased. The cull is really a large wild-harvest or farming of the wild populations, The real danger in this practice has been a drastic change in the social and biological make-up of these4 wild populations.

In any wild animal if you disrupt in a short period of time the normal reproduction processes that have evolved over tens of thousands of years you are in danger of putting the species at risk. Precedents have been set in other parts of the world where large populations of a species ( seals, bison, wolves etc etc ) have faced extinction after widespread and destructive 'culling programs. Many of these species suffered incursion of exotic bacterias and viruses when their populations contained a critical an unsustainable gene pool.

I am not at present undertaking field studies of kangaroos. However , I live in an area where there is a very unusual population of wild kangaroos. I have, living close to my house, three different species of wild kangaroos ( unusual) which I observe on a daily basis. I also have a large group ( over 60) of captive animals that have been rescued as orphans or have been injured. The Research Station acts as a rescue shelter for these animals before their release back into the wild."

PART 2 Pages 8, 9 Draft Version of Animal Welfare: The Deficient Code of Practice for the 'Humane' Killing of Kangaroos

The DEFICIENT Code of Practice for the 'humane' Killing of Kangaroos calls for the bashing of joeys on the head , a practice not allowed on any other animal and a CODE which ignores the fate of the ex-pouch but still dependent joeys which flee in terror to die a lingering traumatised death from starvation, psychic depravation, hypothermia, and predation with out their slaughtered mothers' protection.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE VILE AND UNTENABLE DECISIONS, TAKEN BY FEDERAL/ STATE GOVERNMENTS, TO EXPLOIT AND KILL OUR UNIQUE KANGAROO SPECIES, WITH NO REGARD FOR THEIR WELFARE OR SUFFERING ; DESPITE ENORMOUS EFFORT BY ANIMAL WELFARE/ KANGAROO AND WILDLIFE PROTECTION GROUPS, THE KANGAROO INDUSTRY HAS RECEIVED UNPRECEDENTED SUBSIDIES AND HELP. FACTS LEADING TO THE DISMAL CRISIS OF AUSTRALIA'S WILDLIFE FROM MANIPULATIVE EXPLOITATION AND LACK OF PROTECTION, TO 2004, ARE DOCUMENTED ON THE FOLLOWING PAGES.
Compiled by Maryland Wilson, President
WITHOUT PREJUDICE

A Chronology of Published Reports/ Events that changed the status of Protected Wildlife to Exploitation as a Renewable Resource/Commodity, Killed for Profit Oxford Dictionary: PROPAGANDA disseminating doctrine, information etc. (esp. misleading) Brief Historical Chronology

1982 HUMAN VALUE OF CLASSIFICATION OF ANIMALS Zoologist Peter Rawlinson Submission on the Codes of Practice

"Humans do not place equal value on all animal species. As a consequence, it is possible to recognize different animal species categories according to human value and each has a characteristic population status and population management strategy.
The basic species categories and their populations status and management strategies are summarized in the Table below:

Human Value Category
Population Status
Management Strategy
Wildlife
wild
Conservation- True wildlife species are seen as of potential or intrinsic value
GAME
WILD
EXPLOITATION- exploited as GAME -a supplementary human food source
Vermin
wild
Extermination - threat to human interest and subjected to extermination
Domestic Pets
domesticated
'domesticated''Conservation' - domestic animals are utilized for human benefit

The CSIRO conducted a "survey" of 600 properties purporting to convey the extent of damage done by kangaroos. Taxpayers money was used as a blatant attempt by Government and the agricultural community to blackmail the public that kangaroos are pests, the kangaroo industry was a necessity and if kangaroos were killed, why not eat them instead of leaving them to rot on the ground.

  • Kangaroo meat was introduced onto the Commonwealth Parliamentary menus of politicians. Outcry from the community was ignored. Protest action staged in Canberra.

1989…Senior Commonwealth Kangaroo Monitoring Unit Officer, Gerry Maynes attended a Game Meat Working Party where he sanctioned the use of 'Protected Wildlife' (kangaroos) as game meat for human consumption. No animal welfare, wildlife protection organisations were represented, only the kangaroo industry, government bureaucrats and vested interests. Kangaroos were now considered a GAME MEAT which not only changed their 'protected' status but also meant that they did not have to meet the standards of domestic animals killed in an abattoir. There was no inspection at the point of slaughter, cruelty was rife.

1990 Common Future, "Species & Ecosystems Resources for Development" Wildlife in the Report is constructed as a resource . Wildlife Utilisation is central to developing sustainability.

  • National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development the framework from which decisions on commercial use of wildlife can be made.

1991 RSPCA, ANZFAS, (Animals Australia), ACF, Greenpeace withdrawal from the Kangaroo Management Advisory Committee in protest against the quota system for killing kangaroos Queensland 'Nature Conservation Bill'

"Where protected species are taken from the wild for commercial purposes and then become part of a 'farmed' system, these species will then come under control of the Primary Industries Department. Responsibility for the management of wildlife will be spelt out in the conservation plan or in the provisions of any permit, license, or authority."
CONFLICT OF PURPOSE
The major role of the Department of Environment is in conservation and Environmental protection while that of the Department of Primary Industries (Agriculture) is in the 'protection' of qualities of natural resources, used for production and securing their sustainable use. The 'farming' of "protected wildlife", a system effectively closed off from the wild population, is a case of the'sustainable use' of wildlife rather than conservation.

National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable development provides the framework from which decisions on commercial use of wildlife can be made.

1991 Gerry Maynes/ Nature Conservation Agency (Environment Australia)
" By harvesting wildlife, there is an incentive to maintain viable populations of native animals and their habitat; this is the basis of the concept of wise use of wildlife for conservation" (Maynes 1993; 16)

Workshop of Kangaroo Management in Adelaide 21-22 July
" Removal of Impediments to a Commercial Sustainable Kangaroo Industry"
Suggestions to change the name of kangaroo to karo 'SKIPPY' image an impediment

1993-4 Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC) allocated funds in the Annual plan for Kangaroo Product Marketing 1994
"Commercial Use of Wild Animals' Report" by Brian J. Ramsay, launched by Minister of Primary Industries, Senator Bob Collins (Northern Territory)
Report recommended we farm, harvest, and commercially export all native wildlife (Funded by the Kangaroo Industry) Senator Bob Collins a FOUNDING MEMBER of the 1997 Senate "Inquiry into the Commercial Utilisation of Australian Native Wildlife"
This Inquiry was established to legitimise what had been undertaken by stealth and
without the agreement of the Australian Community

1995…'Conservation Through Sustainable Use' Edited by Gordon Grigg, Peter Hale and Daniel Lunney "Potential Conservation Benefits from Kangaroo Harvesting"

  • the need for landholders to have some sort of proprietary rights over the resource
  • the need for a reduced and less prescriptive role of government in regulation of the industry
  • A recognition of the importance of a return to landholders and of a significant and initiative role for them as stakeholders in kangaroo matters, including the development of markets, regulation and on-going management (this is coupled to the proprietary rights issue)
  • the need for support by government in the educative process both nationally and internationally to combat the negatives that have been traditionally associated with kangaroo harvest The extent to which reduction in total grazing pressure (TGP) should be at the expense of sheep or kangaroos depends on one's perspective…"
  • all geared to the demands of land holders without due regard for the welfare of kangaroos

TOTAL GRAZING PRESSURE (TGP) Gordon Grigg the architect of commercial kangaroo killing

1) A REDUCTION IN UNNECESSARY RESTRICTIVE REGULATION OF THE KANGAROO INDUSTRY IN ALL STATES.
ARCHITECT OF COMMERCIAL KANGAROO KILLING IN AUSTRALIA, GORDON GRIGG Zoologist Queensland University ; Grigg has now ( 2002-3) changed his mind and says kangaroos are NOT the PEST he once thought they were. They are a resource! ggrigg@zen.uq.edu.au
Low prices for wool from sheep rangelands amplify the clamour for kangaroo control, and governments are responding by researching or implementing programs designed to significantly reduce kangaroo numbers.
Gordon Grigg says:

South Australia now has a program which if implemented fully would reduce kangaroos by 60 %. In Queensland and NSW, research projects are examining more effective ways to reduce kangaroo numbers. These goals reflect an acceptance of the folklore that competition from kangaroos compromises wool production and markedly reduces sheep carrying capacity, even though scientific evidence for this is lacking.

But reducing kangaroo numbers will NOT bring the anticipated benefits to woolgrowers, because kangaroos are a much smaller component of the total grazing pressure (TGP) than is generally assumed. This is because the factor of 0.7 DSE (dry sheep equivalent) by which kangaroo numbers are translated into forage lost to sheep, is an over-estimate. Taking body weights into account the factor should be about 0.4 and, taking measurements of field metabolic rate into account, may be as low as 0.15 - 0.2. Hence, even if the desired reductions in kangaroos could be achieved, there would be little or no difference to the economic viability of wool growers in the sheep rangelands. Furthermore , if government decide to instigate significant reductions in kangaroos without data to confirm the conservation and economic benefits of doing so, there will probably be strong criticism from conservation and animal rights organisations as well as Australians at large, and this approach may have to be abandoned.

For these reasons, the focus of kangaroo management as pest control aimed at improving wool productivity, is doomed to failure. What is needed GRIGG says is a strong marketing effort and he can provide some suggestions about the attributes of kangaroo meat and the benefits of kangaroo harvesting (killing) which could feature in a marketing campaign.

1995… "The Role of Kangaroo Management in Total Grazing Pressure" (University of Queensland )
Collated ideas from researchers in the area of kangaroo management, land degradation, population dynamics, and kangaroo product processing… The efforts to address the issue of land degradation will need to be directed elsewhere…Thus, converting a farm from sheep/beef to kangaroos is simply not profitable.

'The Wild Harvest and Marketing of Kangaroos"
· A case Study of the Profitability of Kangaroos Compared With Sheep/Beef in Queensland by J.R. Peter Hardman. In the opinion of the author, the dichotomy between the two schools of thought remained unresolved due in large measure to the difficulty in finding suitable or acceptable definitions for the critical issues of sustainability, land degradation, and total grazing pressure.
Further, it is over simplistic and unrealistic to claim that the conversion of traditional grazing properties to kangaroo harvesting properties will rectify land degradation. Solving the problem of land degradation will require other methods and approaches. In summary, it is unlikely to be done by replacing sheep/beef with kangaroo harvesting.

1996 CSIRO's Division Wildlife & Ecology, Murray-Darling Commission Workshop in Dubbo to discuss killing kangaroos as part of Total Grazing Pressure. Identified integrated and comprehensive approach (Research and Development) to develop into full funding submission and present to Commission./ study related to management of total grazing pressure, run by Queensland Primary Industry and CSIRO Wildlife & Ecology, also funded.

"Kangaroo Management and the Sustainable Use of Rangelands " by Tony Pople (Conservation Biology and the Department of Zoology ) and Steve McLeod (Vertebrate Pest Research Unit. NSW Agriculture)
Mc Leod premise: kangaroos are a pest and need to be killed: Department of Agriculture is his MASTER
"Management of this harvest (kangaroos) has the diverse and sometimes conflicting goals of maintaining viable populations throughout their natural ranges, harvesting kangaroos as a resource and minimising the impact of kangaroos on primary production"

"A consequence of reduced kangaroo populations size is reduced long-term harvest off take, which could compromise the commercial viability of the kangaroos industry whose economic value is substantial, particularly in rural areas."

1996 Amendments to the National Parks and Wildlife Act means that existing controls on commercial utilisation of wildlife are removed to harvest kangaroos as a commodity; the Minister can declare an open season on any species, with no permit required.

The University of Adelaide Australian Institute of Biologists Symposium
" Exploiting our Native Fauna CULLING, HARVESTING,FARMING?
CHAIR: The Director of Australia's Nature Conservation Agency, Dr Peter Bridgewater.
'From Conservation to Exploitation in South Australia'
"Powerful commercial interests are involved in the harvest of kangaroos and they exert a strong lobbying influence in both State and Federal Politics."

1996 National Strategy for the Conservation of Australia's Biological Diversity Consultation
Between Australian Conservation Agencies on Commercial Use of Wildlife is facilitated
Through the ANZECC (Australia and NZ Environment and Conservation Council)

"Sustainable Economic Use of Native Australian Birds and Reptiles ACIL Economics Pty. Ltd
for Rural Industries Research and development Corporation, Agency of primary Industries.
"Now We're Goanna Have An Export Boom" (SMH September 12, 1996)
"Permitting the commercial use of native birds and reptiles within strict rules can
contribute to the national economy…"

"The underlying premise is that unless values can be attached to wild resources, including economic value, people will not modify their behaviour or adopt strategies to live sustainably with the natural world." "Direct threat to wildlife"(Michael Kennedy, Director Humane Society International)

1997 "Bound to sell well - a 'sexier' kangaroo" (SMH 9/9/1997) Federal Government-funded plan to boost human consumption of kangaroos and develop public image for kangaroo industry, launched by the Minister for Science, Peter McGauran, on behalf of the Kangaroo Industry Association( KIAA), principal of Southern Game Meat, Mr Vic Bates, who processes the bulk of the NSW harvest.

CHANGE THE NAME KANGAROO TO MARLA
" culinary cringe " derived from view of kangaroos as "cuddly brown-eyed animals"

*** Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC), Department of Primary Industries "Kangaroos Need Jump in Profile" Funds diverted from Tasmanian Department of Transport to John Kelly (Kangaroo Industry Association) Lenah Game Meats for kangaroo, possum, wallaby meat harvesting and processing, the sum of $92,000.00.

"SMUGGLED 2" by Raymond Hoser Chapter 8 Kangaroo Connection
"Few industries have had so much corruption alleged and yet managed to avoid the scrutiny of a major investigation." The kangaroo industry has been called the most regulated, yet lawless industry in Australia. Call for a Royal Commission

*** 1997 Industry Commission "Inquiry into Ecologically Sustainable Land Management" calls for Trade in and Commercialisation of native Wildlife. "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" (Submission from Environment Australia)

The separation of State/Commonwealth responsibilities means that cruelty to kangaroos and their joeys is basically ignored by wildlife authorities at both State and Federal level. There is no existing legal mechanism to ensure that wildlife is obtained without cruelty and this is not taken into consideration when determining State quotas for kangaroo harvesting. Legislation facilitates the exploitation of kangaroos but no enforceable legislation protects them from extreme cruelty at the point of slaughter where the cruelty occurs. The deficient Code of Practice does not protect kangaroos/ joeys from brutality and cruelty when they are killed. Once kangaroos were classified as GAME 1989, their VALUE = EXPLOITATION. Some still say kangaroos are VERMIN = EXTERMINATION.
The TRUE WILDLIFE = CONSERVATION classification has been steadily removed from kangaroos.

SOUTH AUSTRALIAN KANGAROO MANAGEMENT PROGRAM 5 November 1998 Public Meeting
Present Peter Alexander, Peter Absalom, kangaroo shooters, DEHHA Staff, Kangaroo processors, Landholders, SA Farmers Federation EDDIE ANDRIESSEN Meat Inspector ( AQIS):
"My primary responsibility is ensuring that export requirements are met….I have been in the field over the last few days looking at field operations and field chillers to see if there has been any improvement in two years. We've compared them against the Australian Standard and mainly looked at Macro's chiller boxes but also a few other processors."

  • There is not a single chiller box (Macro Meats and other processors SA) that is up to standard, with most being unclean or uncleanable.
  • A big incidence of fly-struck meat is going down to Adelaide,
  • airflow floors are not being cleaned thoroughly
  • and there's still congealed blood and muck,
  • most of the dirty water is washed out from the front with the bones, instead of being plumbed to a drain,
  • no connection to potable water, only one chiller box had chemicals for cleaning,
  • and there were still kangaroo feet in the surrounds from two years ago. "

"At the end of the day, I'm not going to stand and argue about whether head shooting or body shooting is more humane. That is not the issue. The issue is that the perception of our overseas customers and customers within Australia is that body shooting is not an acceptable form of destruction for a wild animal. Head shooting must be the way to go.

If by chance you happen to only injure the animal, and you have to body shoot it, then there's probably only one choice but to leave it there. You'll have to record you've shot it but you'll have to leave it there because we do not want to see it in the processing works." (AQIS Meat Inspection Eddie Andriessen)

* Cruelty is out of sight and out of mind in the Australian outback. The Late Dr Peter Rawlinson, zoologist La Trobe University said "It is an act of cruelty in itself to attack a nocturnal animal with a high powered spotlight while it is peacefully grazing "; but this stress prone animal is never really peacefully grazing as long as it knows that danger lurks.. .. The stress prone kangaroos are ever alert, listening for danger, attacking their hierarchy.

The shooters and the industry will tell you that this is a good thing, 'peacefully grazing one minute, dead the next' but it is not peaceful. The panic when it hears the truck approaching, the terror when they try to flee and then stop and look, with their stress prone bodies racked with sheer panic ; and the number of little joeys that escape into the bush to die a lingering death with out their dead mothers means that this filthy, impossible to control kangaroo killing industry will never ever be accepted in a society that is civilised.

1998…COMMERCIAL UTILISATION OF AUSTRALIAN NATIVE WILDLIFE (Senate Rural & Regional Affairs & Transport References Committee): This Federal Inquiry composed of rural based Senators, Chaired by John Woodley (Queensland, Australian Democrat Senator) ignored submissions from the majority of the 340 it received opposed to the commercial use of wildlife and was widely condemned; widely seen as a disaster for Australia's native birds and animals.

The Executive Summary and recommendations state: "…in Australia there is a strong and vocal minority who believe there should be no commercial use of wildlife". This statement demonstrates extreme bias. The fact is that the MAJORITY of submissions OPPOSED Commercial Utilisation of Wildlife.

This Report from Rural Senators also concludes that big game hunting of native birds and animals, in spite of the benefits, is rarely promoted. Only two submissions proposed big game hunting! Such blatant disregard for the majority epitomises its' intent.
Wildlife of course can be utilised for the benefit of all Australians but this can only be achieved appropriately through non-consumptive means.
Nobody seriously believes these days that kangaroos are at the centre of land degradation problems nor that the massive export industries that rely on killing kangaroos every year are merely 'pest control programs'. They are purely commercial industries eager to satisfy any market desiring their product. Michael Kennedy HSI

'COMMERCIAL HARVESTING OF KANGAROOS IN AUSTRALIA' by Tony Pople, Gordon Grigg sent out by Environment Australia as Government Document. It says:

  • 'Harvesting will invariably involve some injuries and protracted deaths"
  • "To harvest a sustained yield from a population at steady density, it must first be manipulated in some way to promote the rate of increase (e.g.) reduce it below its ecological carrying capacity or supplement its resources"
  • RATES OF HARVEST MAY BE RAISED TO LEVELS AT WHICH THEY CAN CAUSE THE EXTINCTION OF THE POPULATION Arguments will be confounded when there are non-consumptive values attached to the resource such as for tourism.

1999…"Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Bill " means that the Commonwealth has weakened, not tightened federal powers.

For kangaroos in NSW …animal cruelty matters are regulated and dealt with by RSPCA, but the RSPCA is logistically incapable of policing the kangaroo industry…and NPWS has no direct access to or maintain records in any case.( Letter from NSW NWPS John Eveleigh, KM:8 8 December 1996). So kangaroos have no protection from cruelty. Kangaroo products therefore can be obtained with great cruelty and suffering to kangaroos, yet still be exported because there is no legal mechanism to stop this cruelty. This also means that our AWPC Submission dealing with this issue of cruelty, sent to the Commonwealth Powers Inquiry, was ignored.

  • Kangaroo Industry Regulation Discussion paper (Tom Kaveney) "Environment Australia does not intend to charge at a full cost recovery rate (permits and administration fees) in recognition of the community service component of kangaroo management and conservation" AND…"the general aim of the meetings is to discuss ways in which the regulation of the kangaroo industry could be enhanced to better accommodate the NEEDS of the industry". No animal welfare/wildlife protection input/representation.

1999 --5, 668, 416 kangaroos enter export market. Kangaroo kill quota the highest in history. Scientists ignoring the basic premise of natural selection, claiming that the kill is sustainable and failing to address extreme cruelty in kangaroo industry.

  • "Export Push Fuels Boom for Roo Meat" This product is being pushed as a healthy, low-fat, low-cholesterol alternative to other meats, reports Wendy Levy. (Canberra Times 24/6/1999 - 'The Kangaroo BETRAYED!')

"FOCUS ON ANIMALS" Kangaroos, ostrich, mutton birds and even flying foxes were investigated for a report on new and emerging animal industries. David Mc Kinna's Report, 'Marketing of New Animal Products', was commissioned by the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation. Corporation manager Dr Peter Mc Innes said research on the development and market potential of industries was essential for continued growth. "For an industry like emu, which has undertaken a stage of rapid growth, it is important to identify constraints and then introduce research strategies to overcome them." (Melbourne Herald- Sun July 28, 1999)

Aims of Kangaroo Management ' Harvesting for A Sustained Yield'
1). Harvest rate increased
2). quotas restricting off take
3). Governments to pay agistment for kangaroos on graziers properties by Tony Pople, Department of Zoology, University of Queensland

1992…Kangaroo meat for human consumption passed in NSW Upper House by ONE VOTE from the Rev. Fred Nile. ALP was totally opposed, especially Bob Harrison, MP for Kiama who warned of the consequences. Bob Carr promotes kangaroo meat when elected Premier and puts it on the NSW Parliamentary menu.

1997 CSIRO's Division Wildlife & Ecology, Murray-Darling Commission Workshop in Dubbo to discuss killing kangaroos as part of TOTAL GRAZING PRESSURE. Identified integrated and comprehensive approach (Research and Development) to develop into full funding submission and present to Commission./ study related to management of total grazing pressure, run by Queensland Primary Industry and CSIRO Wildlife & Ecology, also funded.

1998 ENVIRONMENT AUSTRALIA colourful Publication " Biodiversity At The Dinner Table"
populist booklet promotes eating kangaroo meat, and how to season kangaroo…with lemon myrtle, pepper leaf, berries and spicy red tomatoes. Designed to promote eating kangaroo.

1999 Evaluating Alternative Management Strategies for Kangaroos in the Murray -Darling Basin" NSW Agriculture Stakeholder, CSIRO's David Freudenberger attending as a Pastoralist (perceived conflict of interest in his role also as CSIRO Wildlife & Ecology), Ron Hacker, Department of Agriculture, Chair:…"…we should look at what the various interest groups considered their ideal kangaroo population should look like, or what they could least tolerate."

NSW NPWS aims & objectives of the Kangaroo Management Program (Joshua Gilroy) "…The States share the same aim: Manage the harvest kangaroos as a renewable resource. …In South Australia, tags within a region are transferable, which may lead to some areas receiving very high harvest rates (like Queensland).
1999 Head of Australian Museum ,Sydney NSW, Professor Michael Archer actively promotes, quote : "You can get filthy stinking rich killing kangaroos" …"part of our objective is to identify any kind of resource that can be economically valuable, that can be harvested sustainably, that will provide a revenue…it even goes to koalas"
Australian scientists are divided on the issue of commercial harvesting of our native animals, with some ignoring the fundamental premise of natural selection, speculating that the kill is sustainable, ignoring the Precautionary Principle and failing to address or even acknowledge the extreme cruelty in commercial kangaroo killing.

1999 'The Kangaroo BETRAYED!" Hill of Content Publishing Co Pty Ltd 86 Bourke St Melbourne 3000 Vic.
Huge turnout for November launch at NSW Parliament House, demonstrations against Michael Archer at the Australian Museum, and formation of the National/International Kangaroo Protection Coalition.

***John Kelly, Kangaroo Industry Association (KIAA), exporter and proprietor of LENAH GAME MEATS, cited for cruelty to possums on ABC "7:30 Report", 4th May 1999. Tasmanian Minister for Primary Industry (and Environment), David Llewellyn takes no action. Footage shows Kelly also involved in cruel harvesting of wallabies. No Action taken.

***Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC), Primary Industries "Kangaroos Need Jump in Profile". Funds diverted from Tasmanian Department of +Transport to John Kelly (Kangaroo Industry Association) LENAH GAME MEATS for kangaroo, possum, wallaby meat harvesting and processing, the sum of $92,000.00.

***Rural Industries Research & Development Corporation again comes to the rescue of John Kelly (Kangaroo Industries Association) by providing funds contributed jointly by Industry and the Federal Government. ( Warren Truss, the Minister for Agriculture) Launched the project at a cocktail party in Canberra October 18th, 1999, with the help of the HEAD of the Australian Museum, Michael Archer.

***2000 Rural Industry and Research Development Corporation AGAIN provides $120,000.00 to John Kelly, Kangaroo Industry to encourage universities to include the kangaroo industry as a case study of a sustainable agricultural practice…and to promote kangaroo products.

2001 'Recent Advances in the Scientific Knowledge of Kangaroos' Conference by Dr David Croft UNSW Commercial kill quota is 5, 528, 202

2002 NSW Kangaroo Management Program challenged in the AAT vs Dr David Kemp for signing the 2002 kill program under the Wildlife Protection ( Imports and Exports Regulations) Act 1982. Damage Mitigation removed as reason for killing kangaroos now killed as a resource. Cruelty issues irrelevant under this Act
2002 Commercial kill quota is 6, 942, 687, the highest ever recorded

2003 Pressure from farmers/ graziers results in NSW NPWS Proposal to open up 5 new commercial zones to kill kangaroos. NSW Environment Minister Bob Debus bows to pressure from landowners.
"If you think that the educated and well informed overseas visitors travel thousands of kilometres and spend thousands of dollars just to see wasteland and livestock ; and then see our Native Tourism Icon the Kangaroo they came to see in the wild mobs, shot, is just kidding himself!" (Antje Struthman, Bredbo, NSW)

In December Dr David Kemp signed the NPWS proposal to open up the 5 new zones to commercial killing to compensate for the loss of kangaroos (due to commercial shooting and drought in the Western Division of NSW, to subsidise rural communities who rely on killing kangaroos to economically support rural communities and to supply export markets.) There was and is huge Opposition, particularly from locals but political expediency won the day, as it always does.

  • Worst drought in over 100 years decimates kangaroo populations which will take years to recover
  • Sydney Daily Telegraph headlines: HUNT BEGINS IN NEW KANGAROO ZONES
  • Canberra Times ROO HARVESTING PLAN COMES UNDER FIRE
  • Sydney Daily telegraph TOO FEW KANGAROOS TO GO AROUND
  • Sydney Daily Telegraph Letters/ poll OPPOSITION is huge but politicians IGNORE *

* ' SHAMEFUL RECORD STILL PLAYING' by M. Collisson, Hurlstone Park NSW
" I was saddened to read your article "Hunt Begins in New Kangaroo Zones" (Daily Telegraph December 9). I cannot believe that in this day and age we still find it necessary to hunt Australia's national symbol to the edge of extinction. We never seem to learn - Australia already has the fastest rate of extinctions in mammals, including species of kangaroo, and seems hell bent on extending this shameful record."

The kangaroo has long since been cast as the villain, as the pest where in fact, it is man who is to blame. Poor farming policies, habitat destruction, massive deforestation and frivolous use of water are the real problems that need to be addressed. The pet food industry, the fur trade and the sports shoe manufacturers are the real reason for this slaughter."

* " OUR MORAL FABRIC IS TORN TO SHREDS WHEN WE FIGHT TO SAVE THE WHALES BUT ALLOW KANGAROOS TO DIE BY THE THOUSANDS"
" He is eaten, skinned, run over and called a pest when he accidentally hops into a paddock of foreign . stock. Our national symbol is no more. Our moral fabric is torn to shreds when we fight to save the whales
but allow kangaroos to die by the thousands for a few lousy dollars." Richard Gould, Sydney NSW

2003 --LULU the orphaned grey female kangaroo saves the life of farmer Len Richards in Tanjil South, Victoria. Len was knocked unconscious when a tree branch fell on his head, after a storm. Lulu alerted the family for help with the Ambulance paramedics saying, Len would have died without her help.

*** 2003 Kangaroo Industry Association of Australia receives another substantial subsidy of $230,000 to promote kangaroo meat for human consumption and ; to produce a recipe book about how to cook kangaroo meat in Queensland

2004 Simon A Y Smith NSW NPWS A/ Deputy Director General Environment Protection and Regulation
Division , Department of Environment and Conservation (NSW) to Pat O'Brien February 19, 2004:
" I can assure you that, now, the 2004 quota has been approved by the Commonwealth Government, the progress of a trial on south east NSW will be closely monitored and evaluated. The extension of the commercial zone is explicitly conditional upon there being no risk to the conservation status of kangaroos in this part of the State. The approval, being for a four year period only, is not indefinite" and "recognising the legitimate social and economic interests of rural landowners and communities."(commercial kangaroo/joey killing unacceptable for this pursuit)

  • Simon Smith says that this trial will be closely monitored which begs the question, why isn't the entire killing program 'closely monitored' ; NPWS attempts to justify NPWS opening up 5 commercial zones.
  • Where is the Precautionary Principle in effect here, that Simon Smith would need to have this on a trial basis if he is so sure about what he is doing? The old saying, when in doubt 'DON'T applies.
  • What happens if he is wrong ? What irretrievable damage to kangaroos whose populations have been devastated by the worst drought in over 100 years ; surely, kangaroos need time to recover?

"While the provisions in the Kangaroo Management Plan are considered adequate to protect the kangaroo species involved, a minimum weight standard may offer additional conservation benefits by reducing the take of smaller animals. Accordingly, on 4 August 2003, I approved the imposition of a minimum weight limit of 12 kilograms for pet food dressed carcasses and 13 kilograms for all other carcasses of all commercially harvested kangaroos. This equates to a live body weight of approximately 20 kilograms." and " I am informed that based on the relationships between weight, age, and sexual maturity, the limits are set to protect sexually mature females of all four harvested species, and facilitate recovery of populations following drought":

Reacting to a letter from the KIAA President Ray Davis* 12 February 2003 to the NSW NPWS "to express considerable concern over the effects of the current drought on the kangaroo population," and to investigate the possibility of imposing a minimum size limit dresses weight on any kangaroo harvested commercially or culled under a damage mitigation permit."Commenting on this turn of events S.A. ex-kangaroo shooter David Nicholls says:
" It must be remembered that the KIAA letter showing 'genuine' concern for the health of kangaroos is only because they represent a commodity. This is stated as though having a financial concern will keep the kangaroo from terminal danger."

" * The letter continues with a request for a minimum size AS END OF DROUGHT STRESS IS NO TIME TO KILL YOUNG ADULTS. This should be a wake up call to those responsible for the fate of the Kangaroo, that a few generations of humans have altered at least the social structure, and may be altering the genetic structure of millions of years of evolution. Firm and convincing evidence does not exist." David Nicholls
" For all our European history the Kangaroo has been unjustly vilified, killed and has retained the status of a target. The main reason we continue to treat it this way is that the rolling ball of distorted culture, initiated by minority vested interest lies and sustained by successive vote loving weak governments, appears just too big to stop. It is well past the time for a moratorium to be put in place on the commercial and otherwise killing of the kangaroo.
KANGAROO KILLLING WILL STOP ONE DAY. Could today be a ripe time to begin, at least imagining a less uselessly bloodied outback." RSD 6 Weetulta SA 5573 08 8835 226 0408 344 633 leenick@netyp.com.au

*Simon A Y Smith quotes Peter Hale, Conservation Biology Program, The Ecology Centre, University of Queensland, Brisbane 19.2.04 with whom we totally disagree. . Peter Hale is an adversary who gave evidence at the last AAT Hearings :" The effects of the commercial harvest are therefore unlikely( not a scientific conclusion) to produce genetic changes in the population …". Hale appears to overlook the theory of natural selection and supports artificially manipulating kangaroo populations for a desired result - profits from commercial killing.
· " I understand the industry targets all kangaroos over a minimum size (usually 25 kilograms live weight). While the majority of kangaroos above this weight are male, leading to a male bias in the harvest, this is not detrimental to kangaroo populations."
Of course, such killing is detrimental to kangaroo populations.
Let us say exactly what this ' harvest' is: THE MURDER OF INNOCENT KANGAROOS. They TAKE what is left, after having artificially manipulated kangaroos populations for profit. It means killing the alpha males, those males the females would choose through natural selection that carry the best genes, to carry on the species(natural selection). They kill the larger mature females, the educators of the mob which destroys the social structure of the rich complex hierarchy of mobs of kangaroos and their joeys, leaving kangaroo populations a teetering pyramid. The use of weasel words changes nothing.
Killing kangaroos is inhumane and a blight on civilised society.

2004 Dr David Kemp challenged in AAT under the Environment Protection Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999
for signing the 2004 Queensland, South Australian, and West Australian Kangaroo Management (Kill).
2004 Dr Kemp will determine whether or not to allow safari/ trophy hunting in Australia., vigorously opposed by
wildlife welfare/protection organisations.

Maryland Wilson President
www.awpc.org.au 2005 The Year of the Kangaroo

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