Save the Kangaroo

Contray to popular myth, the kangaroo, along with (except, arguably, on Kangaroo Island), the sugar glider, the cassowary and flying foxes and many other species, are endangered. They have become endangered because of the relentless pressure of enforced population growth, together with the deliberate ravaging of our natural habitat in order to satisfy the almost insatiable greed of Australia's wealthy elite. Since 2004, a mob of Kangaroos were marooned at Somerton Victoria as a result of the thoughtless building of residential and industrial estates adjoining the Hume Highway. Efforts were made in 2006 to rescue the kangaroos. Some of this story was captured on film by sociologist film-maker . The video can be on . For further information Visit the site of the Australian Wildlife Portection Assocation at View the Youtube video, referrred to above, at: ">What you can do
  • Contact Maryland Wilson by emailing kangaroo|AT|peninsula hotkey net au
  • Join the Australian Wildlife Protection Association at
  • Set up an account on this site, if you do not already have one, by visiting so that you can contribute your knowledge and ideas. (You may still post comments anonymously but you may have to await the approval of the site administrator, before they are published.)

Comments

Support for the kangaroo "harvest" in the Hunter Valley is hardly "overwhelming", according to the poll. The only people who would benefit are those with interests in their deaths, such as the shooters or land-owners who want sterile land for production. Such is the hatred of our indigenous animals that so many people can't tolerate seeing them and claim they must be in "plague proportions" so need to be shot! They are denigrated to the level of feral animals! They are actually part of our ecology, and they eat grass to keep down the dangers of bushfires, till the soil with their claws and their tails. This all helps native seed propagation. People do not understand that kangaroos have a long period of dependency and strong bonds between the mob members. So much mis-understandings exist, and so much distorted information from our government and the killing industry means that they are hounded and hunted in their own habitat. Killing them cannot be justified environmentally. It is all about exploiting them as a "harvest", for money.

Of course those in the kangaroo killing industry is angry at the possibility of the EU banning their products. The killing is cruel and the processing of meat unhygienic. Most of the shooting is done at night, so how are they to ensure that they have perfect shots? Up to 40% are mis-shot and die slowly, in agony. The dirt, dust, potential diseases and lack of water carried by these "harvesters" add to the risk of eating this "game" meat! It is quite legal to pull a joey out of its dead mother's pouch and bash it to death! At foot joey are left to doe of starvation, exposure or be killed by feral predators. Kangaroos are native animals and as such have a part to play in our biodiversity in the enrichment of soils and native grasses. They are soft-footed and do not damage soils or cause erosion and pollution like livestock. Only in severe starvation do they interfere with livestock feed or crops. There is nothing hygienic, humane or "green" about eating kangaroo meat, or about the industry. Let's hope the EU successfully ban the importing of kangaroo meat, like Russia.

EMMA Vrshkovski, 22, was "was driving to work and this big kangaroo just leaped out of nowhere. Other drivers at the scene said I didn't have a hope of avoiding it"! She was uninjured but will have to pay for $1000 in excess insurance. No mention of the fate of the real victim, the kangaroo! Ms Vrshkovski and her family are calling for an inquiry into escalating kangaroo numbers which they say are roaming the Morisset peninsula's urban streets. According to her mother, "Kangaroo numbers in the hospital grounds are in plague proportions and this is where they are coming from. They aren't afraid of urban streets, any more." This story shows just how little people know about Australia, and just how little we have adapted to living here within our environmental context. Australia is one of the most wealthiest nations with regards to biodiversity richness and the number of species that have evolved in our ancient land. Our country is natural kangaroo territory, and kangaroos are not "plagues" but indigenous animals with indigenous rights. Before building roadways, there should be environmental impact plans and plans to accommodate wildlife - with overpasses, wildlife corridors and underpasses. It should also mean driving SLOWLY in habitat areas. Kangaroos do not attack cars! Road kill and accidents are the result of speed and lack of planning, and ignorance! Despite a number of comments already posted, none have been published as yet!

Of course none of the comments to this rag have been published..There is no money or celebrity involved,who cares??... This imbecile driving the car that hit this Kangaroo was probably speeding in the first place and the idiot blames the kangaroo..Oh there is a plague of kangaroos here, something has to be done. I hear this Moronic sentence time and time again from these stupid brainwashed Sheep..Most Australians I speak to are under the impression that Kangaroos in Australia are in plague proportions..When I ask them how they know that, the answer is Oh thats what the government told us..Wake up you Morons..Do you really believe one single word our lovely caring government tells us...? How aften on the news or morning Moron vision do you ever here any news or stories about our lovely native wildlife here in Australia,hardly ever..Its all celebrity, money and mindless drivel..It seems to me the majority of the Aussie Battlers are only interested in money,how much their house is worth, Footy, alcohol, and whats in it for ME....Most of them couldnt care less about are native wildlife that is rapidly vanishing..Oh but a dog or a cat arent they lovely??...

Of course none of the comments to this rag have been published..There is no money or celebrity involved,who cares??... This imbecile driving the car that hit this Kangaroo was probably speeding in the first place and the idiot blames the kangaroo..Oh there is a plague of kangaroos here, something has to be done. I hear this Moronic sentence time and time again from these stupid brainwashed Sheep..Most Australians I speak to are under the impression that Kangaroos in Australia are in plague proportions..When I ask them how they know that, the answer is Oh thats what the government told us..Wake up you Morons..Do you really believe one single word our lovely caring government tells us...? How aften on the news or morning Moron vision do you ever here any news or stories about our lovely native wildlife here in Australia,hardly ever..Its all celebrity, money and mindless drivel..It seems to me the majority of the Aussie Battlers are only interested in money,how much their house is worth, Footy, alcohol, and whats in it for ME....Most of them couldnt care less about are native wildlife that is rapidly vanishing..Oh but a dog or a cat arent they lovely??...

It is horrifying and disgusting that a scientific licence has been issued by DECCW NSW Wildlife Licensing and Management Unit NSW to Wollongong University to retain kangaroos in a cage 1 metre x 1.3 meters x 1.7 metres for up to 9 months to ascertain the amount of methane gas expelled by the kangaroos. Apparently they requested 15 kangaroos to be tested but the licence has been approved for 6 animals to start with. The kangaroo will be obtained from excess "stock" from wildlife parks, and they will be euthanased when experiments/ research is finished. Wildlife have a rightful place on our land, and are not "stock" and nor are they "excess". What sort of macabre experiment is this? What could the results be used for to benefit the animals? It would only be detrimental to them, and the individual animals being experimented on. Kangaroos and wildlife will never replace livestock. To reduce methane emissions, we need to reduce meat consumption. What a terrible way for a animal to have its life ended when it was used in a commercial way. This is not science but research to support commercial use of kangaroos and it is no different from Japan's bogus "research" on whales that was really commercial interests. No wonder Australia could do nothing for the whales, with so much embedded hypocrisy at such high levels. Kangaroos suffer incredibly from stress myopathy, and this means they become vulnerable to diseases. The methane emissions could be quite different under these unnatural conditions. Some have been informed the University may also be looking at doing the same experiments on wombats as well. Where are the ethics of such research? Confining, manipulating these range-land grazing animals for dubious purposes. They will be isolated from their mob, their territory, and suffer terribly. The end is misery and death for these captive animals. Please come on board and work together to stop this now !

The latest edition of the RACV Magazine Royalauto on page 13 has a brief story headed “The mob next door” which says “Just 20 years ago kangaroos and cows grazed pastures and grasslands around Craigieburn in Melbourne’s north. But as suburbs expand and engulf open land mobs of roos are confined to small green wedges along waterways where they are vulnerable to cars and dogs. Tell us what you think about loss of wildlife habitat. You can make a comment here:.