In this story we look back at what we were saying in 2021. If you are interested in understanding or studying the plight of Kangaroo species and the decline of Kangaroo populations in Australia, the past perspective is useful because it provides a benchmark, a measure on which to base future judgements.

Our work in assessing the situation in Australia regarding its wildlife generally and in particular Kangaroos, is based on our past investments in conservation properties in Australia (now destroyed) and field trips across the Australian Continent combined with details analysis and critique of government data and associated claims at state, territory and Commonwealth level. All up that is about 50 years of experience (we first travelled to Australia in 1974 for business reasons).

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Canberra 2021

“2019: We walk in the parks and reserves that make up the Canberra Nature Park, there are currently 39 nature reserves that make up the park system in and around urban Canberra. Walking in the parks, the first thing you notice is that there are no Eastern Grey Kangaroos, no Wallaroos and even Wallabies are now very hard to find. So what has happened to them all?”

The idea of shooting Kangaroos in Canberra’s nature reserves turned to reality in 2004 when about 800 Kangaroos were shot in the reserve adjacent to Googong Dam. While this land is in New South Wales, the land is managed by the ACT Government and hence was this government’s first direct foray into the world of mass killing of Australian wildlife, that is, Kangaroos. Since then many thousands of Kangaroos have been shot and bashed to death under instruction from the ACT Government. So not even the Bush Capital is a place that Kangaroos can call home. The long term contract to keep killing has several years to run and is likely to take most of the remaining Kangaroos in the parks.

One of the most poignant memories, from Canberra, and one that keeps us awake at night,  are the descriptions of the ghost joey populations, without mothers, following their mass slaughter in Canberra’s nature parks and reserves. Milk dependant joeys lined up along roadsides, crying for their mothers’ and dying under the aggressive wheels of uncaring motorists. Those ghosts will never leave us.

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Pressure for commercialised killing in the ACT

“There is no commercial harvesting of Kangaroos in the ACT though the question of whether the animals that are culled (e.g. on rural properties) could be used is sometimes raised”. ACT Government

“About 92,000 kilograms of Kangaroo carcass has ended up at the tip after the most recent cull wrapped up on Friday… An undisclosed but likely small amount is processed into baits for wild dog and fox control”. Canberra Times, 28 July 2019

Killing Kangaroos in Canberra is an expensive business and the public pays. Here are some numbers (total costs), again under FOI, for financial year 2015-16 - $856,671.58; 2016-17 - $715,345.48; 2017-18 - $855,022.39; 2018-19 - $893,660.51. During this period $866,756.12 was paid to commercial shooters to kill Kangaroos in nature reserves in the ACT (this figure is included in the annual figures given here). The current contract with shooters runs for five years at a cost of $880,000 as payment to shooters plus admin costs which appear to be averaging out at around $613,500 per annum.

In 2020, following Australia’s worst bushfires in living memory, fires in which three billion native animals died, the ACT Government closed nine of the 37 Nature Reserves and set about killing over 1,900 Eastern Grey Kangaroos. Nonsense speak from the ACT Government at the time included “Kangaroos are an integral part of the ecosystems around Canberra and we hope the community will understand that the conservation cull is vital for the wellbeing of the environment and the many plants and animals that call our reserves home”.

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An act too horrible to contemplate

Amidst the usual nonsense and spin from the ACT’s Kangaroo killers (soon they will all be gone), tonight, 16 May 2021, park gates will close and the killing of yet another 1,568 Kangaroos will commence in these nature reserves: Mt Ainslie Nature Reserve; Mt Majura Nature Reserve; Farrer Ridge Nature Reserve; East Jerrabomberra Grasslands; Mulligans Flat Woodland Sanctuary and Goorooyarroo Nature reserve.

The 2021 killing program ended two weeks earlier than planned and a further 1,505, lower than the original target, Eastern Grey Kangaroos were killed. The Canberra Times reports that “the Mount Ainslie, Mount Majura and Farrer Ridge nature reserves have now completely reopened, along with East Jerrabomberra Grasslands and Mulligans Flat Woodland Sanctuary”.

What is particularly troubling are the statements from Parks director Daniel Iglesias (who, when I met him a few years ago, tried to tell me there were ‘millions’ of Kangaroos in the ACT, incorrect and odd that he tried to push that line on me):

"What we want to do is get to a point where 100 per cent of the animals that we cull, we can reuse in some way”.

All this, as Kangaroo meat is now finding its way into zoo supply chains around the world as ‘sustainable’ food for the animals in the zoo and what looks like very concerning news coming from Victoria about the rapidly increasing number of dog deaths from the meat being supplied as pet food.

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A new and toxic spin

In an attempt to make these horrific crimes against the natural world appear acceptable and even perhaps useful, the ACT Government has come up with the following grotesque bit of flummery:

“Up to 700 kangaroo carcasses from the 2021 conservation culling program will be donated to an endangered native species breeding program. This initiative supports conservation of an endangered species and reduces waste produced by the conservation cull”. ACT Government

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Canberra's dirty secret

Conclusion: The ACT seems to be a leader in developing policies that continue to push the limits of what is being done to Kangaroos, what is ‘lawful’, what levels of cruelty are acceptable and what rates of killing can be tolerated. As elsewhere, numbers are exaggerated and current killing rates are a very long way from sustainable. All of it driven by concocted ideologies and complex reasoning for destroying the native animals that belong in these landscapes, where they have existed for millions of years.

Particularly terrible aspects to the treatment of Kangaroos in the ACT include a policy that Kangaroos and their joeys MUST NOT be rescued and rehabilitated if they are injured in the ACT, and another, the use of Kangaroo meat as a vector for 1080 poison.

There are very substantial fines for Canberra residents protesting the Kangaroo slaughter on their doorstep and, as in other parts of Australia, the people who care about wildlife have few or no rights. Hardly democratic conduct.

There is a clear lack of wildlife corridors between nature parks and reserves in the Canberra Park system, the lack of which creates road safety issues and the death of a large number of Australian animals across a range of species as they try to cross the major roads intersecting the parks. To add to this, exclusion fencing is now being used to exclude wildlife from significant areas within the nature parks.

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Around Australia 2021

So let’s put Canberra and the ACT into context with what is happening to Kangaroos in other states and territories in mainland Australia. Let’s do this by pulling some government numbers and statements from their websites. We don’t need a vast amount of detail, we will just pull out a few things that can only be described as shocking. These comparisons depict a shameful set of activities underpinned by marketing spin and disinformation from those responsible.

“A couple of hundred years ago some fellas rowed ashore on the continent and proceeded to shoot everything that moved or flew, and chop down and dig up everything that didn’t. How the Aboriginal people standing and watching this event survived that day is a miracle. These whitefellas were collecting specimens to take back to Motherland; a scientific expedition”. Kakkib li’Dthia Warrawee’a

The Commonwealth Government’s Department of Agriculture still claims that the population of Kangaroos subject to a commercial trade in wildlife is 50 million. This claim is nonsense. If we add up the latest state by state population estimates across the places Kangaroos are killed commercially, that is in those places they still exist in numbers to make this possible, we get a population number of around 34.3 million. This last number is an exaggeration given the silly numbers coming out of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. The evidence on the ground is that Kangaroos are increasingly hard to find in more and more places and population estimates are driven by silly claims of booming populations, when state government figures (with the exception of Victoria in 2021) mostly show precisely the opposite is occurring.

These Commonwealth Government numbers have surfaced from an FOI request: World value of Kangaroo exports (A$ current value) 2014 - $20.25 million (4,216.89 tonnes of meat); export value 2019  - $14.86 million and a volume of 2,581.18. This represents a decline in value, when the two periods are compared, of 27 per cent in value and 39 per cent in volume. Reasons for decline are likely to be twofold, it has become much harder to source Kangaroos because of steep declines in population (hence opening up Victoria to the commercial trade) and the low value (and difficult work life) for shooters. (NB – when we try to run calculations on these numbers, we cannot make sense of them). In 2018, as a very rough figure, this puts an export value of each Kangaroo at around A$10. The value of the export of skins has been hard to obtain.

In this same document (2020) the Commonwealth Government claims a total population of the species subject to a trade in wildlife (bushmeat) of 45.4 million Kangaroos (while still claiming a population of 50 million on their agriculture website – both numbers are nonsense). The government tells us that 1.44 million Kangaroos were killed in 2018 for commercial purposes, they claim just 3.1 per cent of the total population of these target species in the shooting zones where they are killed, also nonsense.

This documents also tells us that there are 1,400 licensed Kangaroo shooters in Australia.

The 2016 Australian Census shows that 309 people in Australia gave their main work area as Hunting and Trapping (all species), that is, 72 people in New South Wales, 100 in Queensland, 66 in Victoria, 20 in South Australia, 24 in Western Australia, 12 in Tasmania, 12 in the Northern Territory and 3 in the Australian Capital Territory. This probably indicates that the commercial killing of Kangaroos is mostly a part-time occupation, akin to low-paid piece work.

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New South Wales 2021

Four species of Macropod, the larger Kangaroos, are part of the commercial trade in wildlife occurring in New South Wales. The species are the Red Kangaroo (Macropus rufus), the Eastern Grey Kangaroo (M. giganteus), the Western Grey Kangaroo (M. fuliginosus) and the Eastern Wallaroo (M. robustus). These Kangaroos are killed for commercial purposes within fifteen commercial Kangaroo shooting zones.

Killing Kangaroos for commercial purposes is currently prohibited within National Parks and other reserved areas in NSW.

At the same time as the claims that populations are exploding in Victoria (by 41 per cent from the previous year), the New South Wales Government advised its Kangaroo population had plummeted by 25.5 per cent. The New South Wales annual survey estimated there were 10.5 million animals in 2020, compared to 14 million in 2019. It is a significant collapse since a peak of 17 million was reported in 2016.

Here are two of the western / central shooting zones in the state. For the Grey Kangaroos in the Tibooburra shooting zone the government’s population estimate for 2016 for this species in this zone was 451,594, by 2020 the population estimate had fallen to 6,859. For the Red Kangaroo in the Cobar shooting zone the population estimate in 2016 was 437,129, by 2020 the population estimate was 102,480.

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NSW Commercial Kangaroo Harvest Management Plan 2022–26 Consultation draft

There is a confusing jumble of legislation applying to the shooting of Australian wildlife and the way the commercial trade in wildlife interacts with these, further complicated by state and federal responsibilities. The fact that the NSW Government Department of Planning, Industry & Environment is trying to push through the approval of the draft NSW Commercial Kangaroo Harvest Management Plan 2022–26 prior to the findings of the NSW Government’s Health and Wellbeing of Kangaroos and other Macropods in New South Wales Inquiry, is not only shocking, but an indicator of the gaps in process that allow for such shoddy standards of governance from the public sector. Trying to find the details of the request to comment on the latest management plan is also very difficult and the short time frame allowed for a response is also questionable.

Because of the inherent time lags in the methodology of setting quotas and publishing population estimates, we are now seeing kill quotas and population estimates in some NSW shooting zones, and for some species, where the numbers are very similar. That means the shooters are authorised to kill every remaining animal in that zone. Then, presumably, they will be gone. And they claim the mass killing of Kangaroos is sustainable and well managed.

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Cluster (exclusion) fencing in NSW and the prospect of commercial wildlife farming

The terrible consequences of cluster or exclusion fences being built, often with government subsidies, in more and more places across regional Australia (construction of these fences commenced in 2013 in Queensland and has spread from there) reveals itself in NSW where it appears a trial (probably located in the Upper Hunter Kangaroo Shooting Zone) is to be conducted to ‘significantly change the mindsets of landholders’ to view Kangaroos as a commercial opportunity in the lands inside the cluster fences.

“The significant value of the Kangaroo species needs to be fostered in-order to support long term markets”.

“The Department is not participating in that”.

(The department appear to have been present during discussions) and the private company involved in this trial is looking to engage with scientific experts to conduct population monitoring within fenced areas. Meanwhile one of the witnesses at the NSW Kangaroo Inquiry claimed that:

“So the act of fencing, coupled with the other land management activities that are going on, tend to mean that Kangaroos, like sheep, do better out of the whole scenario rather than worse, and that is what we are finding in the data”.

What is occurring here, with the NSW Government appearing to turn a blind eye, is described by Tina Lawrence:

“These landowners are effectively asserting a private right of ownership over these Kangaroo populations in order to farm them in the same way as they farm cattle or sheep. Whatever way they want to sanitise the implications of this project, this is the commercial captive breeding and “canned” harvesting of Kangaroos”.

Conclusion: The situation for Kangaroos in NSW is now so utterly appalling that there is a NSW Government inquiry - Inquiry into the Health and Wellbeing of Kangaroos and other Macropods in New South Wales. Given what has been done to Kangaroos in the state over the last decade, the New South Wales Government is pushing its luck in claiming a population number of 10.5 million. Time will be the judge.

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Victoria 2021

"In a place where nature does not count, counting nature can be a grim business. The reality is that the Victorian Government knows very little about the outcomes for the animals they issue these ATCW permits for. Most of course will be killed, just how many (more or less) is a matter for speculation. What has occurred regarding Macropod species for example is a complete disgrace." Peter Hylands

At the time of writing this, two species are shot commercially in Victoria, the Eastern and Western Grey Kangaroo. Ten per cent of the estimated population is targeted in the annual quota. Absurdly, given declines almost everywhere else in Australia, the Victorian Government claims a significant increase in its Kangaroo populations.

Here is what the population numbers for the commercially targeted Kangaroo species in Victoria currently look like. The commercial industry (as a trial) commenced in Victoria in 2014 and without any understanding of Kangaroo populations in the state.

The trial was completed by late 2019 and the full industry commenced at that time. The first population survey was conducted in 2017 and included three species, the Red and the two Grey Kangaroos. The 2017 population estimate for these species was 1,442,000. Since 2014 and including 2021 the government will have issued permits (commercial and non-commercial) to kill 1,213,311 Kangaroos, a number that excludes joeys which are also killed.

Add to this the catastrophic fires in 2019-20 (they were bad the year before as well). So if we include the killing of joeys and the Kangaroos which perished in the worst fires in Victoria’s colonial history, we get to a number of 1,523,311 supposedly dead Kangaroos in the period since 2014, more than the 2017, 2018 and 2020 population estimates for these species.

In 2021 we suddenly get a population estimate (for the Greys only) of 1,911,550, a population increase of over 40 per cent over the previous survey. That is, a population increase of Grey Kangaroos in Victoria of well over half a million over the previous year estimates (2020) and the previous survey (2018), despite the catastrophic fires of 2020.

What we can say with certainty is that the probability of a sudden population increase in 2021 is zero. And this year the Victorian Government want to kill more Kangaroos than ever before.

As a point of history, the Victorian Government population estimate for the Red Kangaroo in Victoria was 6,000 in the year 2000, in the 2017 survey when they counted just 23 Red Kangaroos, the government then estimated the population to be 13,000, in the 2018 survey they counted 91 Red Kangaroos, this gave a population estimate of 44,000. Since 2009 the Victorian Government has issued permits to kill 59,214 Red Kangaroos PLUS their joeys – many of these on public lands including State and National Parks.  

The very concerning thing here, is that, in the period 2009 to 2012 permits were issued to kill 2,155 Red Kangaroos, by 2016 to 2019 this number had risen to 43,191 (2019 is the last year I currently have comprehensive data for). So it is highly probable that the Victorian Government was issuing permits to kill Red Kangaroos well in excess of their Victorian population. If the early years in this time series are compared with the later ones the difference in the number of Red Kangaroos (year high and lows) is 15 (in 2010) to 15,187 (in 2017). That is 1,012 times greater.

For these reasons and the evident silliness of the numbers, the Red Kangaroo was not included in the commercial trade in wildlife list at the end of 2019. By counting them again in 2020, and as Grey Kangaroo populations in the state are destroyed, it looks to me as if the Victorian Government is conniving to put the Red Kangaroo back on the commercial trade in wildlife list once more.

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The Kafkaesque comes to Victoria

Standing outside of Franz Kafka’s old front door in Prague we reflect on the absurdities, let’s say the differences, between the West and my early visits to Czechoslovakia. Some wonderful stories, but no time to tell them now. So to Australia’s State of Victoria, where even the great talent and imagination of Franz Kafka would be put to the test.

Here, Tina Lawrence, Co-founder of the Victorian Wildlife Shelters Coalition, tells a twisted tale of the bureaucracy, so carefully designed to disenfranchise the residents of Victoria who love their wildlife. So over to Tina:

“So the way the new commercial Kangaroo industry works. Here in Victoria is that Department of Environment Land Water and Planning (DELWP) still issue Authorities to Control Wildlife (ATCW) permits, but only oversee the setting of quotas. The rest of the governance has been delegated to Game Management Authority (GMA) who licence the shooters and are responsible for oversight and compliance as agents for the Department of Jobs Regions and Precincts (DJPR) who actually run it and allocate tags to shooters up to the set quota limit in the seven Victorian harvest zones. There are no permits for commercial killing. Landowners can just go online and get a list of local commercial shooters. I tried it myself a couple of weeks ago. I got a list of 13 commercial shooters for here in the Otways zone within 2 mins. This system means that Kangaroos are effectively unprotected in Victoria. The Office of the Conservation Regulator (OCR) has no role or oversight regarding cruelty or any other aspect of the industry. It is set up this way deliberately for two reasons, to incentivise landholders to use the easier no permit needed pathway to employ commercial shooters, rather than doing it themselves under ATCWs and then to spread the governance or oversight out over so many departments and agencies that it is impossible to get information on what is going on”.

To add to this Kafkaesque nonsense, the Department of Premier and Cabinet and the Minister of Agriculture have also been busy in enabling, spinning and promoting the killing.

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Victoria and the Lilliput syndrome

The killing of Kangaroos for commercial purposes in Victoria has taken on another dimension, the Kangaroos being killed for commercial gain are getting smaller and smaller. So small in fact they are mere babies. I take something from Jonathan Swift when I look at the goings on in Victoria. I mean this in two ways, smaller of course, and the unpleasant and very dubious displays of authority by a government that is clearly tangled in a mess of its own making. There are now very concerning signs of increasingly punitive actions against the complainants in an effort to shut them up.

This from the Victorian Government Department responsible for this heinous conduct: All ‘harvesters’ in Victoria must adhere to the National Code of Practice for the Humane Shooting of Kangaroos and Wallabies for Commercial Purposes (just weakened further to remove any vestiges of humanity). In accordance to the code and consistent with other jurisdictions, there is no minimum size limit prescribed for Victoria”.

The Victorian Government’s own authorisation to shooters based on which commercial wildlife licenses are issued; Conditions of Authorisation under section 28A of the Wildlife Act 1975, to hunt, take, destroy, possess, dispose of and sell Eastern Grey Kangaroos and Western Grey Kangaroos in accordance with the approved Victorian Kangaroo Harvest Management Plan 2021-2023;  clearly states that:

“Kangaroos with obvious dependent young must not be shot”.

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Confused? You are not the only one.

On matters of compliance, this is the spin. Letters received from politicians, state that there is strict compliance with the law (and code(s)?) and all that is done is humane and that any non-compliance will be dealt with by the law. When details of what is actually occurring, including acts of cruelty and non-compliance to the Victorian ‘authorisation’ are provided, nothing is done and there is no attempt to investigate these matters, nor to prosecute them. Cover-up appears to be the main game. It might be wise that politicians in a ‘democracy’ should avoid promoting activities of extreme abuse and cruelty and pretending otherwise.

Babies eating babies: Continuing our literary theme, and as an old Austrian, well used to dark forests and twisting passageways in even darker castles, a story that would send a shiver of horror through the Brüder Grimm emerged a few weeks ago. A classic case of the Victorian Government trying to spin gold out of straw ”Ich muss gold aus stroh spinnen” is the email I received from a local government councillor in Victoria informing me of her horror on discovering that she had received a new government publication on pre-school (0-5 year olds) nutritional guidelines, which now included, what is a bushmeat, and in a time of a global pandemic, Kangaroo meat. That is very poor taste indeed and clearly demonstrates the insidious nature of the relationship between this government, ‘industry’ and ‘science’. Clearly the aim is to target young children in a way that they come to believe all that I have told you about Kangaroos is somehow acceptable. It is NOT.

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Counting Kangaroos in Victoria: Update May 2021

The 2020 Kangaroo population survey resulted in a count of 6,268 Grey Kangaroos and 102 Red Kangaroos, these were observed along the 3,234 km of transects.

The first aerial and ground survey of Victoria’s Kangaroo population since the commercial industry in Victoria recommenced in 2014 was conducted in 2017, counting 2,630 Kangaroos. That survey estimated Victoria’s Kangaroo population to be 1,442,000. Since that time the two subsequent surveys have differed in terms of their extent and location, making comparisons difficult.

Given that since the recommencement of the commercial trade in wildlife in Victoria in 2014, the Victorian Government had issued permits to approve the killing of 1,213,311 (excludes ATCWs for Red Kangaroos for 2020 and 2021, which they have continued to kill despite its removal from the commercial target list), a significant decline in population has a far higher probability of being correct.

Some aerial transects that could not be flown safely in 2018 were replaced in 2020, increasing the number of transects from 145 to 150, comprising a total of 3234 km, an increase from 3182 kilometers in 2018 and the 79 transects of 1600 kilometers undertaken in the initial survey in 2017 . The 2020 survey and estimates exclude local government areas that are entirely (or almost entirely) within highly urbanised parts of the Melbourne metropolitan area. It remains unclear as to which parts of Melbourne, within the metropolitan area, can be accessed by commercial shooters, particularly as they are now infiltrating Melbourne suburbs, including Chirnside Park.

Estimates also excluded thickly forested areas because of the unreliability of Kangaroo detection from the air in those areas.

The actual take in 2020 was 46,064 (approx. 80 per cent) of the total statewide commercial quota of 57,900 animals. Our estimated value for the total trade (dressed meat) to shooters in the 2020 was $1,060,000. This week the government confirmed there were 86 licensed shooters in the state (80 in 2021) so that was an average value to shooters, before costs, of around $12,300.

In the Mallee shooting zone in 2020, 45 per cent of the quota was achieved, this fell to 18 per cent in the Gippsland shooting zone. The highest commercial kills against quotas were in the Upper and Lower Wimmera shooting zones at 92 and 95 per cent respectively. The Lower Wimmera shooting zone, in terms of the number of animals killed at 16,681 was the hotspot for commercial wildlife killing activities in 2020, hence the alarm of residents.

In 2020, 65 per cent of the Kangaroos killed for commercial purposes in Victoria were Eastern Grey Kangaroos, the balance Western Grey Kangaroos. The government figures show that one third of the total commercial kill was composed of female Kangaroos.

In 2020, in addition to this commercial trade in wildlife, permits were issued to kill 70,752 Grey Kangaroos in the state, 95 per cent of which were Eastern Grey Kangaroos. When all permit types, killing types are combined, the highest numbers of Kangaroos targeted were in the North East shooting zone at 31,385, the Central shooting zone at 30,586 and the Lower Wimmera at 30,112.

The pretence of ‘sustainability’ is broken by:

• Killing too many Western Grey Kangaroos (or not knowing how many were killed) given their total population in the state;
• The high percentage of females being killed (plus their joeys);
• The recent revelations that no minimum size applies to the commercial shooting; and
• There will be no restrictions on the industry operating on public lands in Victoria, including state and national parks.

NOTE: The issues in relation to identification and differentiation between species and hence, actual recording, of the numbers of Eastern and Western Greys actually killed, still persist because reporting systems were deemed to be inadequate.

In 2020, and in the months following the catastrophic fires, the Victorian Government issued ATCW permits (non-commercial) to kill 67,619 Eastern Grey Kangaroos (1,611 permits); 3,248 Western Grey Kangaroos (48 permits); 6,575 Red Kangaroos (15 permits – looks like much of this in state and national parks); 324 Red-necked Wallabies and 1,251 Swamp Wallabies. These numbers do not include joeys, which are also killed.

Kangaroos now have no place of safety within the state of Victoria.

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Very bad moves

Victoria’s commercial trade in wildlife (Kangaroos) has been declared a Developmental Wildlife Trade Operation (DWTO) under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. This allows Kangaroo products collected under this commercial wildlife killing activity, such as skins, to be exported overseas. The Developmental Wildlife Trade Operation runs for three-years. The new Victorian plan for the commercial trade in wildlife (Kangaroos) has been designed to align with this.

From 2021, Conditions of Authorisations for shooters in this commercial trade in wildlife activity (Kangaroos) allow carcasses to be taken to processors outside of Victoria provided that it is legal under that State or Territories legislation to import Kangaroos from Victoria for processing.

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A dog’s breakfast: Unsustainable exploitation of wildlife

Some very troubling news from Central Victoria in September 2021 suggested that a local meat works wanted to open up a Kangaroo processing facility, that would, when fully operational, process 2,000 Kangaroos each week. That is 104,000 Kangaroos in one year. In 2021, the entire commercial trade in wildlife quota for Kangaroos in Victoria is 95,680. So just one of a number of Kangaroo meat processing plants in Victoria plans to process more than the quota for the whole state.

• Problem ONE: The would-be plant claims it will import Kangaroos from other states, all of which have steep declines in their Kangaroo populations and are also processing Kangaroos.
• Problem TWO: Initially discouraged, now a major part of the exploitation of Kangaroos, females are now being shot in very large numbers (about 30 per cent of the take) and that likely takes out two other generations of Kangaroos, the pouch young and the at foot young still dependent on mother. The young are beaten to death or decapitated.
• Problem THREE: Since the commercial trade was introduced into Victoria in 2014 the killing rate of Kangaroos in the state has tripled, while the government claims population increases.

In late July 2021, following a series of dog deaths in Victoria from Indospicine toxicity, caused by the consumption of raw meat that had been sold as pet food, the Victorian Government’s Agriculture Department has issued the following warning:

“On a precautionary basis, we are advising that dog owners should not feed fresh or frozen knackery meat, especially Kangaroo meat, sourced from the Gippsland area between 31 May and 3 July. If you have concerns consult your pet food provider to understand where the fresh meat came from and where it was sourced”.

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South Australia 2021

Five species of Kangaroo and Wallaby are now killed commercially in South Australia, the Eastern and Western Grey Kangaroo, (the Sooty Kangaroo from Kangaroo Island, Western Grey but distinctive), the Kangaroo Island Tammar Wallaby, the Red Kangaroo and the Euro.

2020: “South Australia’s Kangaroo commercial harvest zone will be expanded, and the 2020 quota has been set to help manage Kangaroos, as well as support primary producers. The Kangaroo commercial harvest zone will be expanded from South Australia’s pastoral area to cover Yorke Peninsula, Adelaide Hills, Fleurieu Peninsula, South East and Kangaroo Island. The species of Kangaroo available for commercial harvest will include three new species, Tammar Wallaby (note from Peter Hylands - mainland species once thought to be extinct), Kangaroo Island sub-species of Western Grey Kangaroo (Sooty Kangaroo) (until recently listed as threatened) and Eastern Grey Kangaroo (note from Peter Hylands – classified as rare in South Australia until they decided to kill them commercially), as well as the existing species of Red Kangaroo, Western Grey Kangaroo and Euro.” Government of South Australia

In South Australia, the 2020 commercial quota for all Kangaroo species was 518,600 Kangaroos across the entire expanded harvest zone, a 477 per cent increase on the number actually harvested in 2018.

“This quota is less than the 2019 quota of 730,200 and reflects the reduced population estimates as a result of the current dry conditions”. Government of South Australia

A total of 74,027 Kangaroos were killed for commercial purposes during the first eight months of 2020.  This represents 14 per cent of the combined commercial Kangaroo quota for the year. The projected kill in 2020 for all species is now 108,609. This represents 21 per cent of the combined quotas.

“The sundry Macropods are not just a fine animal that looks cool on a coat of arms, they are a part of this land. Dtjowdtjba, the Eastern Grey Kangaroo, is not my brother or sister: Dtjowdtjba and I are one. Hurt Dtjowdtjba and you hurt me. I, just because I am human am not superior to Dtjowdtjba, neither is Dtjowdtjba superior to me: we are simply one. Sure I will eat Dtjowdtjba if I am hungry, but only after asking Dtjowdtjba if I may. Sometimes we die and we provide food for the grasses that will feed Dtjowdtjba. This is life. Dtjowdtjba and I are a part of the universe: a part of the web of life. Vital and important to that web as the other.” Kakkib li’Dthia Warrawee’a

In 2019, the commercial Kangaroo kill in South Australia for all species was 99,289. This figure was 13 per cent of the approved quota of 752,100 (including Special Land Management Quota). The highest recorded annual quotas achieved are 555,000 for Red Kangaroos (1997), 280,000 for Western Grey Kangaroos (1997), and 103,000 for Euros (1997).

• In 2020 the estimated Red Kangaroo population in all commercial zones in South Australia (including the expanded zones as of 1 January 2020) is 1,178,888, a decrease of 24 per cent from the previous year total of 1,552,679 and 24 per cent lower than the long-term survey data average of 1,545,893 (1999-2019 data from model estimates).
• The estimated population of the Western Grey Kangaroo in all commercial zones (including the expansions to Mallee and Yorke Mid North sub-regions but excluding Southern Agricultural region) is 846,127, a 22 per cent decrease from the 2019 population estimate of 1,085,193 and 28 per cent below the long-term average of 1,180,479 (1999-2019 data from model estimates). The population in the new Southern Agricultural zone is estimated at 208,811, a decrease of 24 per cent from the 2019 population estimate of 276,183.
• The estimated population for the Euro in all commercial zones is 517,108, a decrease of 9 per cent from the 2019 estimate of 570,021 and 8 per cent above long- term average of 479,078 (1999 -2019).  
• For the Eastern Grey Kangaroo surveys show a large drop in population compared to the 2019 estimate at 61,826 Kangaroos.
• For the Kangaroo Island (Sooty) Western Grey Kangaroo aerial surveys found that Kangaroos were spread across the island, although fewer were present in the burnt areas. Compared to the 2019, the 2020 survey indicates a 34 per cent reduction in the Sooty Kangaroo population on Kangaroo Island.  
• For the Tammar Wallaby (Kangaroo Island sub species) the survey gives a population estimate showing a reduction in population of approximately 40 per cent post fire.

Different rules in different states and territories: So in South Australia you can rescue young Kangaroos, the pouch dependent joeys, but if you do, you must keep them for the rest of their lives. So no release back to the wild. Adult Kangaroos, for example if they are stranded somewhere, can be relocated and released back into the wild.

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Two stories with two very different propositions

In response to a South Australian Government Tender advertising for a Kangaroo Partnership Coordinator the Adelaide Advertiser (19/8/2021) claimed Kangaroo population blow-out ‘only a matter of time’. Fencing. Cutting off water access. Eating them. SA’s Kangaroo population is headed towards another explosion in numbers – and we need a plan now. The South Australian Government tender document states:

"The SA Arid Lands Landscape Board is seeking an independent supplier (an individual without a vested interest in the kangaroo management realm presently) with a proven record in partnering, engagement and communication/marketing with diverse stakeholder groups.  This role will establish, coordinate and facilitate a kangaroo management partnership for South Australia. Kangaroo over-abundance and over-grazing presents a threat to the condition and resilience of South Australia’s landscapes, to Aboriginal cultural values, to the sustainability of the livestock grazing industry, and to conservation values. Mass starvation deaths of kangaroos as a result of overpopulation represents a significant and distressing animal welfare issue.  Kangaroos are a valuable resource but are not recognised for their true value. Opportunities to maximize harvesting outcomes for both economic and environmental outcomes can be more fully realized".

Meanwhile at the NSW Kangaroo inquiry (19/8/2021) a witness for the NSW Government’s Biodiversity Conservation Division, Environment, Energy and Science Group, Department of Planning, Industry and Environment who sadly are at the forefront of enabling and promoting commercial Kangaroo killing and importing activities in NSW stated:

"Most shooters will shoot for body size, but it depends on the density of the population. I did some work years ago in the north-west of the South Australian pastoral zone where shooters would shoot anything that moved because the density of the populations were so low and, really, it was almost an uneconomical activity".

Conclusion: South Australia has an appalling record of native species endangerment and extinctions, in the driest state on the continent, things need to change.

NOTE: Adding new species to the commercial trade in wildlife and extending shooting zones is a very clear sign that there are no longer enough of the main commercially targeted species to make commercial activities properly viable.

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Queensland 2021

Population surveys for Kangaroos in Queensland commenced in 1980, these were originally conducted by the CSIRO. Since 1991 the Queensland Government has conducted these surveys by helicopter. Population estimates are calculated by extrapolating the mean monitor block densities within population estimate regions to a larger area in the commercial shooting zones of 895,824km2 for Eastern Grey Kangaroos, 1,006,876 km2 for Red Kangaroos and 766,613 km2 for Wallaroos.

Because of the remoteness of some regions in Queensland, Kangaroos have been commercially killed for skins only in some regions. In Queensland, the majority of Kangaroo skins utilised for leather and fur products are sourced from meat processors. According to the Queensland Government, in 2020 there were no Kangaroos killed commercially for their skins only.

“Inna the Wallaroo: though if Inna becomes extinct, so will the people of that totem.” Kakkib li’Dthia Warrawee’a

Queensland is divided into the following commercial shooting zones (Kangaroos) – Central East / Central North / Central South / Eastern / Western / non-commercial shooting (the latter part of SEQ and part of Cape York (the Western zone extends along the Gulf of Carpentaria Coast to just south of Pormpuraaw). Commercial quotas in Queensland are set between 10 and 20 per cent of the estimated population for each species killed for commercial purposes. The species in Queensland are the Eastern Grey Kangaroo, the Red Kangaroo and the Wallaroo.

“The maximum proportions used for each species are 15 per cent of populations for Eastern Grey Kangaroos and Wallaroos and 20 per cent of the population for Red Kangaroos. These maximum proportions are only applied to populations within the central harvest zone where survey effort is greatest and hence confidence limits for population estimates are within acceptable limits”. Queensland Government

The most recent population survey which sets the quotas for 2021, gives the population of Queensland’s commercially killed Kangaroos as:

• Red Kangaroo 4,135,700 (quota 673,050 – 16.3 per cent) – no quota for Central South;
• Eastern Grey Kangaroo 10,043,400 (quota 1,087,450 – 10.8 per cent) – no quotas for Central South and Central North; and
• Wallaroo 2,484,750 (quota 220,650 – 8.9 per cent) – no quota Central North, even though the trigger point to stop commercial shooting (population decline) has been reached in Central South there is still a quota of 8,100 Wallaroos in this zone.

Quotas are never reached, which is an indication of exaggerated population estimates.

In 2019, the actual take of Kangaroos killed for commercial gain was 24 per cent of the quota for that year, in 2018 it was 26 per cent of the quota.

Dealer returns for 2019 (entered up to 10 February 2020) indicate there were 758,362 Macropods killed commercially in Queensland, just 26 per cent of the overall combined quota. Of the animals killed for commercial purposes, there were 216,437 Red Kangaroos, 483,385 Eastern Grey Kangaroos and 58,540 Wallaroos exterminated (excluding joeys).

Quotas for individual species in each commercial shooting zone were not exceeded in 2019. The maximum commercial take, as a percentage of the approved quotas, was 31.9 per cent for Eastern Grey Kangaroos and 27.3 per cent for Wallaroos, both in the Central Zone.

In 2020 (from 1 January) shooting in the vast Central Zone was suspended for the Wallaroo and the Eastern Grey Kangaroo, including the shires of McKinlay, Flinders, Murweh, Paroo, Quilpie, Richmond, Winton, Longreach, Barcoo, Blackall-Tambo, Bulloo and Barcaldine. This is a vast area that runs from the Mckinlay Shire boundary in the north to the NSW border in the south and east to Morven This ban was because of the devastation of Kangaroo populations in this zone.

By the end of 2020, the highest number of tags sold as a proportion of quota was 100 per cent for Wallaroos in the Central Zone, the actual take for this species, in this zone was 77.9 per cent of the available quota. The data from dealer returns, entered up to 5 February 2021, shows that there were 514,144 Kangaroos killed for commercial gain in 2020, representing 18.2 per cent of the overall quota, the majority of the killing traditionally occurring in the Central Zone. The 514,144 Kangaroos killed for commercial gain in 2020, included 200,779 Red Kangaroos, 263,409 Eastern Grey Kangaroos and 49,956 Wallaroos.

“According to figures supplied to the Commonwealth Government Department of Environment and Energy, Queensland populations fell from a high of 32,803,900 in 2013 to 20,999,900 in 2018”.

The total population of the three commercially targeted species in 2021 is estimated to be 16,663,850.

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Rapid depletion of Kangaroo populations in Queensland

Kangaroo Management Advisory Panel (KMAP) Commercial meeting of 4 November 2020 minutes include this item.

“An enquiry was raised if the Department (NSW) has developed a communication strategy regarding the significant reduction in Kangaroo populations in Queensland that have resulted in Queensland closing zones whilst New South Wales is opening zones in 2021.

Clarity was provided about the current process in place for ministerial enquiries pertaining to population estimates, commercial quota and zone closure.

“These enquires are responded to as required. Rarely are detailed question asked about the survey methods”.

So what are KMAP trying to do here and why are they raising this as an issue? The latest Queensland figures are indeed alarming, and they are right to be worried about the implications of what has happened in Queensland when set alongside the NSW population estimates and quotas. You can only hide the truth for so long.

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Central Zone 2021 data entered up until 9 June 2021, percentage of quota killed

• Eastern Grey Kangaroo – 12 per cent
• Red Kangaroo – 9 per cent
• Wallaroo – 19 per cent (100 per cent of quota issued)

Note: The Central Zone: Eastern Grey Kangaroo data shown above includes the Central Zone (North) and Central Zone (South) figures.

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Central Zone (North) 2021 data entered up until 9 June 2021, percentage of quota killed

• Red Kangaroo – 9 per cent
• Central Zone (South) 2021 data entered up until 9 June 2021, percentage of quota killed
• Wallaroo – 5 per cent

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Eastern Zone 2021 data entered up until 9 June 2021, percentage of quota killed

• Eastern Grey Kangaroo – 4 per cent
• Red Kangaroo – 13 per cent
• Wallaroo – 1 per cent

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Western Zone 2021 data entered up until 9 June 2021, percentage of quota killed

• Red Kangaroo – 10 per cent
• Wallaroo – 1 per cent

Conclusion: In the Central South and Central North shooting zones, Kangaroo populations have been significantly depleted by a combination of exaggerated populations estimates, inflated quotas, intensive killing based on these over-estimations and climate change impacts.

It also appears that the killing pressure on the Wallaroo has increased significantly because of the drastic decline of other commercially targeted species. This puts significant pressure on Kangaroo populations in other commercial shooting zones in the state. In 2020, 18 per cent of the quota was filled, in 2019, 24 per cent and in 2018 it was 26 per cent. This is because the quotas were lower.

The year on year declines in population should tell us a lot and the commercial Kangaroo industry will kill every animal it can find to maintain the viability of the industry. Evidence suggests that chiller boxes are being moved from Queensland to Victoria.

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Northern Territory 2021

There is no commercial exploitation of Kangaroos at this time, this would be culturally unacceptable. We spend a lot of time in the Northern Territory and see very few Kangaroos.

The Northern Territory Government state that commercial trade in Kangaroos, Red Kangaroos and Euros, given very low population densities, would not be viable. The government says that densities much higher than five Kangaroos per square kilometer are required to sustain a commercial industry over the majority of a shooting zone.

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Western Australia 2021

Two species of Kangaroo are currently killed for commercial gain in Western Australia, the Red Kangaroo and the Western Grey Kangaroo. In 2021, the quota for the Red Kangaroo is set at 17 per cent of the annual population estimate, for the Western Grey Kangaroo the quota is set at 15 per cent.

Since 2003 the number of Kangaroos killed commercially shows significant decline. There was no commercial harvest of Euros from 2003-2006 and from 2010-2015. There is no current plan that allows shooting of Euros for commercial purposes, however Euros are shot for as they compete with cattle and sheep on farmland or leasehold land used for grazing.

More nonsense from the ABC:

"ABC News October 2019: Landholders are calling for the 'roo meat industry to ramp up. Kangaroo numbers in Western Australia have jumped dramatically in recent years, prompting calls for an expansion of the state's Kangaroo meat industry. Western Grey Kangaroo numbers have doubled since 2014 while the Red Kangaroo population has quadrupled".

The reality, within the commercial shooting zones in Western Australia, the 2019 population estimate for these species was 3,090,605, reducing to a population estimate of 2,412,050 in 2020.

The quotas accordingly reducing from 489,130 in 2019 to 381,880 in 2020. In 2020, the actual commercial take for Red Kangaroos was 13.8 per cent of quota and 26.1 per cent of the quota for Western Grey Kangaroos.

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We found our plot of ‘paradise’ in the West Australian Chittering Valley

“It is a lovely day sitting on my verandah with the birds flying overhead; a great sense of peace and harmony exists. These types of days are not frequent enough. Nightmares a story too. I have come to dread the nights, waiting for the guns to go off as more and more Kangaroos are exterminated, and of course all the non-target species sorely affected as ever.

I am no longer willing just to hope this living nightmare will go away. Bad enough to be the perpetrator, bad enough to be the victim, but far worse to be the bystander. And so I try to be the difference, to be the change. This too, at a cost to my wellbeing”. Peta Rakela: Paradise Shattered, AWPC 2005

Conclusion: Serial declines in Kangaroo populations. We have serious concerns for the Red Kangaroo and Euro, things are not looking too bright for the Western Grey Kangaroo either.

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Tasmania 2021

There are five remaining species in the Kangaroo family in Tasmania, the Forester Kangaroo, Bennett's Wallaby, Pademelon, Eastern Bettong and the Long-nosed Potoroo.

For the Forester Kangaroo, commercial activity occurs as a result of the transitioning of damage mitigation type permits to commercial use. A survey of the species was conducted in 2019. Around 10,000 Forester Kangaroos are killed each year, around 4,500 of these are transitioned to commercial. The 2019 survey population estimates conducted by the Tasmanian Government gave a population of 30,000 - 40,000. These numbers look to us to be overstated given the mass killing in the last few years.

“Forester Kangaroos are protected wildlife under the Nature Conservation Act 2002. The abundance and distribution of Foresters declined by 90 per cent following European settlement. Populations of Foresters remain in several pockets of the Midlands and Northeast. Foresters occur primarily on private land resulting in conflict when browsing on crops and pastures”. Tasmanian Government.

“The Forester Kangaroo suffered a massive decline in numbers between the early 1800s and the 1950s, and now inhabits only ten per cent of its pre-European range). The original decrease in range was due to the shooting of Forester Kangaroos for human consumption and dog meat, which began with the arrival of white settlers in Tasmania in the early 1800s. This was exacerbated by the loss and fragmentation of habitat, due to clearing of land for agriculture. This practice has resulted in the isolation and reduction of populations and is an ongoing process. Although the species' status has improved since its lowest point in the 1950s, activities such as land clearance and poaching continue to threaten the viability of the Forester Kangaroo in Tasmania”. Tanner and Hocking, 2000

Tasmania’s Wallabies are however a very different matter, mass killing is evident, including killing activity because of claims of exploding populations, which are of course, yet again, nonsense and promote the idea that species have benefited from the destruction of their habitat, mass and mechanised killing activity including 1080 baiting and shooting / trapping. Media reports suggest something in the order of 7,500 Tasmanians can hold a Wallaby licence in any one year with no limits to the numbers killed, that is an estimated 900,000 to 1,000,000 Pademelons and Bennett's Wallabies being killed each year. Estimates are that around 2,000,000 native animals are killed annually by primary industry in Tasmania alone.

In a conversation with the Tasmanian Government today, over the last few years an average of about 500,000 Wallabies are killed in Tasmania each year with about 10 per cent of these animals being transitioned to commercial.

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Sounds familiar?

“An explosion in Wallaby numbers across Tasmania has farmers and game meat suppliers calling for a new approach to managing the animals, including potential for an expanding wild meat industry. Irrigation development across Tasmania and years of good vegetation growth have created an “all-you-can-eat buffet” for Wallabies, which are breeding in record numbers, according to farmers. We are in discussions with the Government about removing unnecessary red tape that makes it difficult for farmers to commercially use these pests”. Mercury, June 2014

Wallabies breed, but they can’t breed in record numbers, simply because they are breeding already and as the cycle of life and evolution dictates.

The scenes of the slaughter emerging from Tasmania are reminiscent of the photos of old with the colonists posing next to piles of dead Kangaroos and Wallabies.

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Commercial trade in Wallabies and Kangaroos in Tasmania - more detail

Here are the actual figures from the Tasmanian Government which came through today (2 June 2021):

2015

• Forester Kangaroos; 200 permits / 9,295 Kangaroos
• Bennett’s Wallaby and Pademelon (includes Brushtail Possum): 2,835 permits / 1,085,835 animals

2016

• Forester Kangaroos; 174 permits / 8,310 Kangaroos
• Bennett’s Wallaby and Pademelon (includes Brushtail Possum): 1,768 permits / 556,090 animals

2017

• Forester Kangaroos; 170 permits / 7,932 Kangaroos
• Bennett’s Wallaby and Pademelon (includes Brushtail Possum): 275 permits / 156,606 animals

2018

• Forester Kangaroos; 158 permits / 8,812 Kangaroos
• Bennett’s Wallaby and Pademelon (includes Brushtail Possum): 531 permits / 43,863 animals

2019 (to August 2019)

• Forester Kangaroos; 75 permits / 1,315 Kangaroos
• Bennett’s Wallaby and Pademelon (includes Brushtail Possum): 531 permits / 14,565 animals
• In the years 2015 through to August 2019, 35,664 Forester Kangaroos were killed under permit, about 21,000 of those were transitioned to commercial use. The number killed in the period roughly equals the Forester Kangaroo’s estimated population at the close of 2019.

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Governance, spin and neglect

Here is Australia’s Commonwealth Government’s description of the plight of the Forester Kangaroo.

“Forester Kangaroos now occur in three core areas: two in the Midlands area of Tasmania (Ross and Nile areas) and one in the north east corner of Tasmania. In addition, there are four locations in Tasmania where Forester Kangaroo, following live trapping in the 1970s, have been relocated. They include two island locations (Maria Island, Three Hummock Island) and two locations on the Tasmanian mainland (Kempton and Narawntapu National Park (formerly Asbestos Range)). Most of the Forester Kangaroo’s current range occurs on private land. Traditionally conflicts have occurred and continue to occur.

The Forester Kangaroo is not listed under the Tasmanian Threatened Species Protection Act 1995. The Forester Kangaroo is classified as 'protected native wildlife' under the Tasmanian Nature Conservation Act 2002.

The cessation of the conservation program would on the balance of probabilities result in the species becoming vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered within a period of five years. Recent threats: There are claims that a number of threats are currently impacting on the Forester Kangaroo including: habitat loss and degradation (specifically clearing of forest on private land), direct culling of Kangaroos (legal and illegal), competition with introduced herbivores (stock and other introduced animals), overstocking of grasslands, 1080 poisoned baiting, disease, road deaths, fences, and climate change.

The total population size of the Forester Kangaroo is estimated to be approximately 26,000 individuals. Thirty percent of the population are considered to be yearlings. The number of mature individuals is therefore approximately no less than 18 200 (i.e. greater than 10 000) and it is considered that the population has stabilised”.

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Wallabies in Tasmania

The 1999 commercial trade in Wallabies totalled 21,000 animals (Pademelons and Bennett’s Wallabies), down from 300,000 in 1984. From 1999 onwards it has been difficult to find the data on commercial activities 'because the Commonwealth Government had not issued export permits'.

In Tasmania permits are issued to landholders on a property basis as mitigation permits, these can then be transitioned to commercial use.

As an indication of the scale of killing of these animals, on the Tasmanian Islands of Flinders and King for the period 1 July 2005 to 30 June 2009, commercial killing quotas for the two species of Wallaby were set at 87,750. The commercial quota and the non-commercial quota combined for the period was a staggering 217,500.

The Tasmanian Government goes on to say:

“Commercial and non-commercial Wallaby harvest quotas for Tasmania (1 July 2007 - 30 June 2008) The Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries and Water decided to withdraw its harvest quota submission for 2007-08 when it became apparent that there was a lack of export market demand for Wallaby products. Both non-commercial and commercial harvesting for the domestic market did occur during 2007-08, but no harvest quotas were approved under the EPBC Act. Consequently, no Wallaby products harvested in the 2007-08 quota period could be exported”.

What is particularly troubling is that Wallaby body parts from Tasmania are now being sold in pet food shops in Melbourne – so the commercial trade in Tasmanian wildlife is back with a vengeance.

In June 2017, Josh Frydenberg, Minister for the Environment and Energy at that time. approved the Proposal for the Commercial Harvest and Export of Products Obtained from Wallabies in Tasmania (the operation) is an approved wildlife trade operation for the purposes of section 303FN of the EPBC Act.

Tasmania’s ‘Environment’ Department recommends the following methods for killing Wallabies:

“Shooting to control Wallabies - effective shooting should be part of an integrated browsing management approach, which combined with fencing and other tools can provide great returns for your investment.

Trapping to Control Wallabies - trapping is only effective for Tasmanian Pademelons. It is not an effective tool for Bennett’s Wallabies which are very trap shy.

Using 1080 Poison to Control Wallabies when properly managed, 1080 poison can be used as a limited tool for the initial knock-down to get back on top of browser numbers before constructing Wallaby proof fencing and using ongoing alternate wildlife management tools”.

In August 2021 the Tasmanian Government announced that it is developing a ‘Wildlife Impact Action Plan’ stating: ‘The Tasmanian Government recognises the significant economic impact browsing wildlife can have on agriculture and forestry activities. We seek to get the balance right in supporting farmers, foresters and land managers in managing the impact of browsing wildlife on agricultural and forestry sectors while ensuring sustainability of wildlife species is maintained”.

Balance is something that has never been a part of what has been done to wildlife in Tasmania, the history is a shocking one so perfectly described by the Thylacine. For browsing wildlife read code for an increased attack on Kangaroos and Wallabies – Wombats no doubt will also be a focus of the coming slaughter as will Possum species. Tasmanian’s Forester Kangaroo should be on the threatened species list and not in pet food shops, so cruelly turned into dog food.

“If Kangaroos have been given a power by this great and ancient land, to which they have belonged since deep time, it is that they, the Kangaroo, because of the deception, lies and cruelties exacted upon them, corrupt the people trying to harm them, or enable that harm. These people, diminished forever, by their actions. And that is the retribution from this ancient land”. Peter Hylands

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How kangaroos may die and all too often do

The following extract is taken from a post mortem examination conducted by the eminent wildlife carer, veterinary surgeon, doctor of human medicine and anaesthetist, Dr Howard Ralph. The animal in question was a young male Eastern Grey Kangaroo. The animal was killed (mid 2012) during an ACT Government sponsored killing event of Kangaroos in the capital’s nature reserves.

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I will jump straight to the interpretation – The first wound to the face was consistent with a gunshot from above, the bullet entering at the dorsal part of the right hand side and exiting at the level of the mandible and causing massive damage to the bone and teeth. That was likely to be the primary wound of a series of three wounds and it is not likely to have been fatal.

The second wound, to the skull and brain, caused extensive trauma / damage to both structures and is consistent with blunt trauma caused by a blow with a heavy object. Considering the bleeding along the dorsum of the neck and the series of three assaults on this Kangaroo, this trauma to the head was unlikely to have caused immediate death.

The third wound is consistent with a penetrating knife wound to the neck. The skin, muscle, vessels and trachea were divided in such a manner as to be also consistent with a deep knife injury. The presence of blood aspirated into the trachea, bronchi and lung is consistent with aspiration before death.

The above series of lesions indicates that the Kangaroo was first shot, then bludgeoned on the head and then stabbed in the neck. The evidence is consistent with the Kangaroo being alive until finally being exsanguinated and asphyxiated by a laceration to the throat. The Kangaroo very likely suffered severe pain and distress for some time during this progressive attack, until the fatal exsanguination and asphyxiation.

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A note on Kangaroo codes of practice

Australia’s commercial trade in wildlife and specifically in relation to Kangaroos is recognised internationally as the most cruel and extensive exploitation of land-based mammals on Earth.

An update to the National Code of Practice for the Humane Shooting of Kangaroos and Wallabies for Commercial Purposes (the Code) was released on Wednesday 18 November 2020. The protections for Kangaroos were further weakened by this update.

The purpose of these codes of practice in relation to Kangaroos in Australia are twofold:

1. To legitimise extreme acts of cruelty which would otherwise be illegal by negating animal cruelty legislation; and
2. To create the impression for consumers, particularly overseas consumers, that Australia’s trade in wildlife, in this case members of the Kangaroo family, is humane and is closely managed for compliance, nothing could be further from the truth.

While we do not agree with the mass slaughter of Kangaroos, we spent several days preparing a submission for AgriFutures on behalf of the AWPC to attempt to moderate the extreme cruelty and evident dishonesty. AgriFutures, the organisation responsible for the update of the national code (Federal Government funded) took precisely no account of what we had suggested, our submission was completely ignored, never acknowledged and we were not informed of the publication of the new code - so a long established Australian charity and its members were treated with complete contempt by the individuals preparing the update. I have personally prepared a large number of submissions and this excuse for a consultation was the worst I have seen anywhere.

In Victoria, commercial Kangaroo shooters are licensed under the Conditions of Authorisation under section 28A of the Wildlife Act 1975, to hunt, take, destroy, possess, dispose of and sell Eastern Grey Kangaroos and Western Grey Kangaroos in accordance with the approved Victorian Kangaroo Harvest Management Plan 2021-2023. These conditions explicitly state that (clause 7) Kangaroos with obvious dependent young must not be shot. Precisely the opposite has occurred and females with dependant young are killed each and every night across the state in large numbers. Yet not a single prosecution has occurred in relation to this matter. So suggesting there is any kind of compliance regime is incorrect.

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