Kangaroos
Australia's iconic kangaroo is hunted in the largest commercial slaughter of land-based wildlife on the planet.1 Almost 90 million kangaroos and wallabies have been lawfully killed for commercial purposes in the last 30 years.2
Australia's iconic kangaroo is hunted in the largest commercial slaughter of land-based wildlife on the planet.1 Almost 90 million kangaroos and wallabies have been lawfully killed for commercial purposes in the last 30 years.2
Australia's iconic kangaroos are hunted in the largest commercial slaughter of land-based wildlife on the planet.1 Almost 90 million kangaroos and wallabies have been lawfully killed for commercial purposes in the last 20 years.2
A multi-million dollar meat and skin industry3 has been built around our country's most beloved native animal. In 2016 the Australian government allowed up to 7.4 million kangaroos and wallabies4 to be commercially hunted. In addition, a large number of kangaroos are killed for non-commercial purposes such as damage mitigation and recreational hunting. This slaughter is accepted because of a perception that kangaroos are a 'pest'5 and a 'sustainable resource'.6
Pest or precious?
According to a 2011 report by THINKK, the think tank for kangaroos, the notion of kangaroos as costly pests to Australian farmers has been significantly overstated. Research suggests that kangaroos do not exist in abundance or pest proportions and that the cost to farmers should be revised down from $200 million to $44 million, or $1.67 per kangaroo per year.
Kangaroo killing for commercial and non-commercial purposes may also threaten the survival of the species. They are put at risk by shooters who hunt outside the sanctioned areas and kill species other than those permitted under specific licences.7
Cruel treatment
The Senate Select Committee on Animal Welfare concluded in its 1988 report into the killing of kangaroos that, "to some extent, cruelty to kangaroos has become institutionalised through the system of kangaroo management."8
Because kangaroos are shot in the wild and at night,9 when they are most active, the legalised cruelty associated with the slaughter of kangaroos is largely hidden from the public eye.
While shooters are required by Commercial and Non-Commercial Codes of Practice10 to aim to shoot a kangaroo in the brain and therefore achieve an instantaneous death,11 many factors affect the ability of a shooter to achieve this.12
Non-fatal body shots are an inevitable part of the industry, with the potential to cause horrific and painful injuries. Data collected from meat processing plants by RSPCA Australia in 2002 suggest that 4% of kangaroos were mis-shot, while Animal Liberation NSW data from chillers (holding facilities for carcasses) suggest that 40% of kangaroos may have been mis-shot between 2005 and 2008.13 The lack of industry monitoring makes it difficult to establish more accurate figures.
A vivid picture of the types of injuries that can occur as a result of mis-shots is painted by the words of a former commercial kangaroo shooter: "The mouth of a kangaroo can be blown off and the kangaroo can escape to die of shock and starvation. Forearms can be blown off, as can ears, eyes and noses. Stomachs can be hit expelling the contents with the kangaroo still alive. Backbones can be pulverized to an unrecognisable state etc. Hind legs can be shattered with the kangaroo desperately trying to get away on the other or without the use of either. To deny that this goes on is just an exercise in attempting to fool the public."14
Joeys as collateral damage
Kangaroos are social animals who live in large groups called mobs.15 Mothers and joeys (young kangaroos) form close bonds and communicate with each other using unique calls.16
The death of these joeys is 'collateral damage' to the killing of female kangaroos. Under the Codes of Practice, shooters must 'euthanase' the joeys of any female that is killed by using the following methods:
Dependent joeys who are not caught and killed in accordance with the Codes of Practice will likely die as a result of starvation, exposure or predation without their mothers to teach them vital survival skills such as finding food, water and shelter.18 On a 10 year average, it is estimated that 800,000 dependent joeys are killed as collateral damage of the kangaroo industry each year.19
RSPCA Australia reviewed the Codes of Practice in 2002 and recommended that they include a condition to stop the shooting of females who are carrying pouch young.20 This, it believes, is the only way to stop the potential of cruelty to the pouch young.21
Watch a presentation on the kangaroo industry by Keely Boom, previously a research fellow with THINKK, the think tank for kangaroos, and an expert in animal law and environmental law. Filmed at Voiceless's 2012 Animal Law Lecture Series.
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Last updated March 2018