Right: Mustering cattle: is farming of introduced animals for meat contributing to climate change?. Background information
(The information outlined below is taken from the Wikipedia entry titled 'Kangaroo meat'. The full text can be read at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangaroo_meatOther information comes from the World league for the Protection of Animals 2008 Submission on the Cruelty, Risks and Illegality of the Kangaroo Industry to the Hon. Peter Garrett,
Federal Minister for the Environment. The full text of this submission can be found at http://www.wilderness.org.au/articles/submission-kangaroo-industry-2008.pdf
The current exploitation of kangaroo meat in Australia
Kangaroo is produced only from free ranging wild animals in Australia and not produced by organised farming. Both the meat and the hides are sold.
Although most species of marsupials are protected from hunting by law, a small number of the large-sized species which exist in high numbers can be hunted by commercial hunters.
This policy has been criticized by some wildlife activists. On the other hand the kangaroo harvest is supported by a wide range of professional ecologists in Australia.
Groups such as the Ecological Society of Australia, the Australasian Wildlife Management Society and the Australian Mammal Society have position statements in favour of kangaroo harvesting. Such groups argue that basing agricultural production systems on native animals rather than introduced livestock like sheep offers considerable ecological advantages to the fragile Australian rangelands.
Though it is impossible to determine the exact number, population estimates are calculated each year by the government conservation agency in each state. Nearly 40 years of refinement has led to the development of sophisticated aerial survey techniques which enable overall populations estimates to be constructed.
Current estimates indicate that there may be between 35 to 50 million kangaroos in Australia. In 2002 the number of kangaroos allowed to be shot by commercial hunters was increased from 5.5 million to 7 million per year. While animal rights activists protested the move, Australian farmers claimed that kangaroos were a plague after a huge increase in their numbers.
A 2002 report studying the grazing pressure caused by kangaroos indicated that scientific evidence is lacking that kangaroos reduce wool production or sheep carrying capacity.
In 2007 the national kangaroo culling quota was more than 3.5 million (but significantly down on the figures earlier in the decade).
Kangaroos are protected by legislation in Australia, both state and federal. Kangaroos are harvested by licensed shooters in accordance with a strict code of practice. Meat that is exported is inspected by the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS).
Kangaroo meat was legalised for human consumption in South Australia in 1980, and in all other Australian states in 1993.
Kangaroo was once limited in availability, although consumption in Australia is becoming more widespread. Many Australian supermarkets now stock various cuts of kangaroo including fillets, steaks, minced meat and 'kanga bangas' (kangaroo sausages).
Seventy percent of kangaroo meat is exported, particularly to the European market: Germany and France. It is sold in supermarkets in England and used in Russian sausages. The industry is worth around A$250 million annually.
The kangaroo industry is growing at 7% a year and there is pressure to open up additional areas for
commercial exploitation.
The meat is also processed into pet food. Pet meat processing comprises the largest proportion by volume of the industry with about 60-70% of kangaroos slaughtered being processed for pet meat. Leading industry figure Ray Borda of Borda Meats has been quoted as saying that the industry wants to raise kangaroo meat to represent 8% of all Australian red meat consumption by 2010. Currently kangaroo meat represents less than 1% of the red meat market.
To achieve the industry's goal the commercial quotas would need to be increased by 78% and the export markets closed. At present most meat for human consumption is exported.