Kangamail41, kangaroo newsletter archives 8/9/07
On the second of October 2007 Jon Dee from Planet Ark was interviewed on Nine's Today Show about kangaroo meat. It was hard to believe anyone could be so ignorant of the issues, and obviously he has a vested interest in the kangaroo Industry. Nobody could be so ignorant. He rabbitted on about how sustainable the Industry was, how healthy the Industry is, how the Heart Foundation supports the Industry (only because they were paid to) and one has to suspect Dee's motives as well. The woman from Choice who was interviewed had obviously done her homework on eating kangaroo meat, but missed many opprtunities to raise critical issues such as health and sustainability. In a letter to Nine Today Show, we questioned why the show had interviewed a couple of times, people who knew little about the Industry. Anyway, we will be giving Planet Ark the big no! no! from now on. Clearly they have sold out to an Industry that has no environmental credibility at all....and that lack of credibility reflects back on Planet Ark as well. ********************* A conservation group is urging the Department of Defence to ensure that native grasslands in Belconnen and the northern Canberra suburb of Majura are protected. The Limestone Plains Group says each site supports threatened species and the grasslands are threatened by overgrazing from kangaroos. A spokesman for the group David Shorthouse says plans by Defence to manage kangaroos are welcome but the entire grassland ecosystem must also be managed. "The grasslands need to recover during the spring period and provide habitat for the several threatened species which live there," he said. "We know that Defence has had expert opinion that this is indeed the case and the kangaroo pressures need to be relieved. "But we haven't seen any action to actually do this yet." Mr Shorthouse says dealing with the kangaroos is not the whole picture. "They need to make sure that when they make their decisions, they're thinking of the grassland system as a whole and not just considering kangaroos and kangaroo welfare, important though that is," he said. "There are other factors such as the threatened species which should have greater prominence in their thinking." *ABC ****************************** Defence backflip: roo cull gets nod Jessica Wright The controversial culling of hundreds of kangaroos in the ACT will proceed after a backflip by the Department of Defence. Defence says it will cull and relocate 1000 kangaroos from the former naval radio transmitter site at Lawson in Belconnen after new advice from scientists the area has been overgrazed by the animals and they are threatening the ecological balance. The backflip yesterday comes just three months after a plan to destroy almost 4000 kangaroos at the Lawson and Majura military training sites was shelved by the department. Chief Minister Jon Stanhope welcomed the decision, saying last night defence had taken an honest approach to the sensitive issue. "I am very pleased the Department of Defence has announced that it intends to act and has faced up to its responsibilities on this matter," he said. "Defence has acknowledged on the back of specific scientific advice there is a serious ecological risk at the Lawson site due to overgrazing by kangaroos." An expert panel has devised a kangaroo management plan for the area which will use a mix of translocation, fertility control and euthanasia. "The independent panel concluded that the structure of the grass and soil condition at [the site] showed very heavy grazing which threatened the long-term sustainability of the grassland," a statement from Defence said. Defence said the optimum number of kangaroos at Lawson would be set at 100, which left the need to cull or remove about 1000 roos. Fertility control would be used to keep the population at that number once the euthanasia and relocation program was complete. However, Mr Stanhope said relocation of the animals was in direct conflict with ACT Government policy because it did not permanently resolve the problem. "The ACT Government has an issue with the suggestion of translocation of the kangaroos," he said. "We would need further discussion with Defence on this. In the ACT there has been a long and firmly held stance against relocating, as we believe it is simply transferring the problem from one place to another," he said. Wildlife Protection Association president Pat O'Brien said he would not hear of the animals being killed. "The Department of Defence gave us an assurance that they will not kill the animals and I hold out on the hope they have more integrity than to go back on their word," he said. "I would expect that there will be some very serious protest action taken, including entry on to the site. Let alone my association spearheading the charge, every day people will be so angry I am confident it will be a natural reaction." Mr O'Brien said he was aware the Defence Department had consulted experts for non-lethal options for removal of the kangaroos and was astounded the original cull was back on the table. "This is a serious breach of community consultation. If they do make any moves I will be in Canberra in a matter of hours. We will not stand for this for one moment." *Canberra Times Ed Comment; Variations of this story appeared in news outlets around the World. ***************************** Article from WCG Cease All fraudulent media releases and unfounded negative actions against the Eastern Grey Kangaroos (EGK's). This government has a responsibility and is obligated to providing protection to all native wildlife, including our native EGK's. Our native EGK's have the right to equal survival with the rest of our native wildlife. The government's proposed cull around and in the ACT is: Cruel and unnecessary. In breach of the animal welfare act. EGK's not overabundant, (Wildlife Carers Group only had 36 EGK calls from 1 July 2006 to 30 June 2007, from ACT and NSW, some were already dead), and are being driven to extinction because of mismanagement all over the whole of the ACT. Deliberately and knowingly driving EGK's to extinction. Count is fraudulent, calculated on what is believed to be the total population of macropods in Australia. No count has been undertaken in and around the ACT. Science statements, fraudulent, by people who don't have any knowledge or expertise in kangaroos - no documented evidence, or research done to back up their allegations. Deliberately and knowingly causing bodily harm and/or death through false media statements, leading to, by certain members of the public who torture our EGK's either to death, or leave to suffer a prolonged agonising death. Alternatives, To turn the sites into Kangaroo Parks, as a tourist attraction, and turn them into multibillion dollar business. Taxpayers money used to unnecessarily slaughter our native EGK's and drive them to extinction, to be used in a positive way to promote the ACT as a native wildlife haven, where you can see our native wildlife in their natural state. To invent a device that will work as a deterrant for kangaroos both at a low speed and a high speed, and warn them of vehicles, to keep them off the road and stop road kills. To supply and install these devices to all motor vehicles cost free. To educate the public on living harmoniously with all our native wildlife. To keep dogs under control and leashed, that are chasing our roos into suicide jumps off bridges, injuring them, onto roads, etc. Defence Sites. The Defence sites roos have crashed, with not much reproduction happening, and will soon die out NO FURTHER ACTION IS NECESSARY ON EITHER SITES, NO ACTION WAS EVER NECESSARY ON EITHER OF THESE SITES. Set a site aside to rehabilitate sick, injured, orphaned EGK's, and change the rehab. licence for full term rehabilitation of sick, injured, orphaned EGK's in the ACT, asap, to be in par with the rest of Australia. Prevention of full term rehabilitation of sick, injured, orphaned native EGK's is in breach of the animal welfare act. The ACT is the only state throughout the whole of Australia, that disallows full term rehabilitation of our sick, injured, orphaned native EGK's. EGK's not responsible for habitat loss or destruction, or driving any species to extinction - they are soft footed and environmentally friendly. Loss of habitat, destruction, driving species to extinction has been caused by - Nature has taken it's toll, as it does, (thankfully the drought appears to be over now, with regeneration occuring) along with climate change, lack of trees on the belconnen site in lawson, and around the ACT as a whole, natural predators, and man. Our wildlife have co-existed together for generations without destroying each others habitat and driving each other to extinction. We further have grave concerns on this ACT government showing signs of discrimination against certain groups they agree to meet up with. Currently, this ACT government has chosen, to only meet up with groups who want to unjustly slaughter the kangaroos, nothing other than a lynch mob, with unfounded reasons. We expect to see this ACT government drop this discriminating behaviour asap, and agree to an early meeting with Wildlife Carers Group, and other interested groups, on this serious matter. NORA PRESTON, President/Founder, WCG - WILDLIFE CARERS GROUP INC. - Founded in 2004. PO Box 3509 WESTON CREEK ACT 2611 Mob: 0406 056 099 email: wildlife_carers_group@yahoo.com.au www.geocities.com/wildlife_carers_group/ www.myspace.com/wcginc
In view of the emerging possibility of a kangaroo k.i.ll at Canberra, it may be worthwhile contacting the people below to confirm that the ADF is sticking by its word not to ki.l.l the Belconnen or Majura kangaroos.The ACT Greens, ACT Labor, and ACT Liberals all support killing the ACT kangaroos. With 39 permits already granted to slaughter our Eastern Grey Kangaroos in and around the ACT this season, at a huge expense to taxpayers, demand where you want your taxpayers money to go to from now on, by: E-mail; Dr Brendan Nelson, ministerfordefence@defence.gov.au Please note: e-mail correspondence should include your full name and postal address. Responses will not be made by e-mail. Defence Secretary Nick Warner; nick.warner@defence.gov.au
Mr Peter Lindsay MP, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Defence.(Address and phone below, no email addy)
PO Box 6022 , House of Representatives, Parliament House, Canberra ACT 2600 Tel: (02) 6277 4964, Fax: (02) 6277 2072
Martin Bowles, Deputy Secretary, Defence Support email; Martin.Bowles@defence.gov.au kevin.rudd.mp@aph.gov.au, stanhope@act.gov.au, Greens, foskey@parliament.act.gov.au, Liberals, info@canberraliberals.org.au, annette.ellis.mp@aph.gov.au, nick.warner@defence.gov.au, Dr Brendan Nelson, ministerfordefence@defence.gov.au, www.pm.gov.au/contact/index.cfm, Tio Faulkner at Liberal MLA Vicki Dunn's office We've been sent this email from a musical shop in the UK. It was sent to VIVA! and passed on to us. I run a musical instrument repair shop - kangaroo skin is increasing in popularity in our trade for Clarinet and saxophone pads - the leather is much more durable and less prone to sticking as are the normal leather used. I have recently invested in several thousand pounds worth of Kangaroo pad stock on the basis of its properties. I have to say I was shocked that in these days of increased knowledge of animal wellfare that the Australian government is in effect turning a blind eye to the suffering inflicted on these innocent animals, I had assumed a humane farming system lay behind this trade. A big thank you for drawing my attention to this apalling slaughter - I am no longer going to recommend Roo skin pads and will no longer stock them. I am going to include information regarding this on my website with a link to your site if that's ok - I will also send info on this to our trade magazine if I can have permission to reproduce items from your site. * from VIVA! ******************************** Book review; Kangaroos of Queensland, by Peter Johnson We picked up this little book the other day and we were pretty impressed by it's content. The author has done lot of research into some of our rare Queensland macropods, and the book has some very good photographs. It lists the Queensland wallabies and kangaroos, with area maps, and information where these animals live. Overall its very useful, but unfortunately it has been partly funded by Lindsay Packer, of Packer Associated Tanners, the company who process and sell kangaroo skins. The book also includes some of the usual propaganda to support the Commercial kangaro killing Industry, no doubt a condition of the funding. Shame about that, it would have been a good publication otherwise. * **************************************** An industry that's under the gun Kind to the planet or unspeakably cruel? Steve Dow gets to the heart of the kangaroo-shooting debate. At the edge of a wheat field under a starry sky in northern NSW, a red Land Cruiser slows to a halt and the engine cuts out. Tony Maunder, dressed in a blue singlet, baseball cap, jeans and gumboots, pushes a lever to ease the windscreen forward until it lies flat on the bonnet. Maunder reaches for his .223 rifle. "Big fella, come on, mate, hop over here," he whispers as a large grey kangaroo stares into the spotlight on top of the truck. There is 150 metres and a mature crop of wheat between predator and prey. An average roo is worth $20 to a shooter but a big one such as this has a bounty of $32. It's not a bad shooting night, although conditions are a little windy: too much wind and too bright a moon and roos get flighty. Shooters stay home on such nights rather than risk wounding a roo instead of killing it cleanly with a bullet straight to the brain, as specified by the industry's code of practice. A shot to another part of the body makes the meat unsaleable and could cause a lingering death. Besides, Maunder says, "with the price of fuel you can't afford to have a dud night". Trained as a boilermaker and welder, Maunder has been shooting roos for more than a decade, getting most of his income from the business, although more shooters are now getting licences. On a good night he will shoot 15 to 20 kangaroos in one lap of this paddock. He generally leaves home at 7pm and returns to his wife, son and daughter at 7am after having shot, cleaned and dressed 40 to 50 kangaroos and hung them in big white chillers on a nearby industrial lot. The carcasses are for export to Europe, mainly Germany. This year, the National Parks and Wildlife Service has given Maunder enough tags to shoot 2500 red and grey kangaroos in a 100-kilometre radius around Moree. Five or six years ago, before the drought, when kangaroos were breeding out of control, he was allowed to kill twice as many. "We don't cull kangaroos, we harvest," says John Kelly, the executive officer of the Kangaroo Industry Association of Australia. "Cull suggests the kangaroos are shot and left to waste, but kangaroos are used for their skin, meat and liver." Sixty per cent of the 3 million kangaroos harvested a year are eaten by humans, the rest become pet food. More Australians are recognising that kangaroo meat is an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional dinner table fare, as supermarkets have increasingly started stocking the meat for human consumption over the past 18 months to two years. The environmentalist Tim Flannery says that from an environmental perspective the kangaroo meat industry is the best managed meat-producing industry in Australia, given strict quotas on the numbers killed and stringently inspected. But animal welfare and animal liberation groups that oppose kangaroo harvesting "are threatening, however unwittingly, to damage the environment at the same time". Kangaroos emit far less methane than sheep and beef cattle and require considerably less water than sheep. The maximum that can be killed each year is set at about 5 per cent of the kangaroo population, based on aerial surveys. Kangaroo is also healthier to eat, says Mike Archer, the dean of the University of NSW's faculty of science and an author of a 2004 book on the kangaroo industry, Going Native. The meat is low in cholesterol and fat, and high in conjugated linoleic acid, which reduces blood pressure. Archer wants to encourage more graziers to get involved in the industry, using the concept of CSU - conservation through sustainable use - rather than simply shooting kangaroos as pests and leaving them to die. "If graziers were to get involved in the kangaroo industry, it would give them resilience in otherwise troubled times, particularly when they're depending on introduced species [cattle and sheep] that don't do as well in Australia as kangaroos do," he says. "Sustainable wild harvesting of kangaroos through a valuing process guarantees [the animal from extinction]. The mantra should be, 'You need to eat Skippy in order to have him too'." Animal welfare groups agree beef and sheep are taking their toll on the land but reject a switch to kangaroos as the answer. "Australia is the driest, most fragile continent on earth," says Maryland Wilson, the president of the Australian Wildlife Protection Council. "If people want to eat meat, let them get it from a country that is able to produce it." But wouldn't the environment be better off if Australians ate less beef and lamb and more kangaroo? "That argument ignores the fact cruelty is inherent in the kangaroo industry," Wilson says. Back in the wheat paddock, the big grey roo is still staring into the light, while Maunder ponders his bad back, the result of lifting dead kangaroos and rough-housing at rugby on weekends. "Jeez, I don't know if I can carry him," the 35-year-old says. He aims his rifle out the front of the Land Cruiser and fires. Maunder jumps down from the cabin and walks to the kill, his legs swishing through knee-high wheat. The kangaroos will eat the tips of the wheat and other crops and leave the rest, but mow down large swathes as they bound about in mobs of 40, 50, 100 or more. Maunder hooks the dead roo by one leg to the side of the immaculately clean truck. "He's nice and healthy," he says, pointing out its lean, muscled physique and running his hand through the fur. "His coat is all nice and clean." Maunder takes a knife, slits the kangaroo's throat then eviscerates the animal, which is then tagged to show who killed it, the exact property, and on what date. Kangaroos are all wild-harvested, Kelly says. "To many people that's one of the major benefits: they're not herded or trucked alive hundreds of kilometres, deprived of feed and water and taken to [abattoirs] that stink like death with strangers and strange dogs trying to push them somewhere where they know something nasty's going to happen." A report last year by the Australian State of the Environment Committee found beef and dairy cattle were responsible for at least 63 per cent of grazing pressure on land, one of the main enemies of biodiversity in Australia. Sheep were responsible for 28 per cent of grazing pressure. Kangaroos were responsible for no more than 8 per cent, and possibly as little as 1 per cent. "I know what you're going to say, that that's an argument for eating kangaroo meat," Wilson says, having referred to the committee's findings herself. "OK, well, if people want to eat kangaroo meat, then they have to accept that cruelty to kangaroos is OK. "The industry's code of practice says it's perfectly legal to take a little joey from the mother's pouch and bash it on the head, stamp on it, hit it against a bullbar or the trunk of a tree. Would you do that to another small animal, like a dog, a cat, a lamb?" (Page seven of the code says: "The pouch young of a killed female must … be killed immediately, by decapitation or a heavy blow to the skull to destroy the brain, or shooting.") Maunder says male kangaroos can be distinguished from females not just by their size. A buck moves with a lope, while a doe's bounce is more straight up and down and females carrying a joey can be a bit bow-legged. And, yes, killing an adult female invariably means having to dispose of her young, too. "They've always got three," Maunder says. "One at foot, one in the pouch and one ready to go. Kangaroos are brilliant breeders. "I'm not going to lie to you; we do shoot a fair amount of females. But you have to. Otherwise you'd end up with a population of all women. I don't like doing it [killing a joey] and no roo shooter does." Does he knock the joey on the head or shoot it? "You just give it a hard blow to the back of the head, which is as quick as being shot. Shooting it would be ridiculous; you'd wound the joey, because they're only little. "If they're big enough to survive, generally they're gone out of the pouch by the time you get there, they've taken off. The little ones, you just smack on the head. It sounds very cold and no one likes doing it, but that's the reality of it." As if to underscore his point, when Maunder aims for his next kill he accidentally hits a doe instead of the buck he wanted, although it's a clean kill. He disposes of the female's joey quickly before this journalist and photographer see the deed. The shooters all love the kangaroo, Maunder insists. A few years ago his family kept an orphaned female joey as a pet, which now lives with a neighbour. "There's not one roo shooter that hates them," he says. "It's their livelihood. But I also admire them because they're smart at finding food and water. They'll never be extinct." Wilson insists there are diseases in kangaroo meat. In April the Herald reported that Animal Liberation activists took swabs collected from kangaroos inside NSW chillers showing some carcasses were contaminated with faecal matter and E.coli and other micro-organisms. The activists are targeting the big kangaroo markets of Germany, Russia, Belgium and France, although one activist conceded they had no evidence of meat leaving the processing plant contaminated. Archer says the disease claim is a furphy, "often produced by those who would have us not think about these issues as alternatives". In Australia, he says, there are more inspections of kangaroo meat than of any other meat. "More importantly, kangaroos are marsupials. Marsupial and placental mammals - placentals include humans, cattle, sheep, goats and pigs - separated 125 million years ago. n"The parasites of one group cannot recognise the other group as suitable hosts … If there is any danger in eating meat in terms of parasites, it lies with the cattle, sheep and pigs, not the kangaroos." SMH Ed Comment; The leadin to this story says...Steve Dow gets to the heart of the kangaroo-shooting debate. Well, in our view he never even got as far as the tonsils! ******************************* 'Roo gazing Who cares if the ACT is regarded by the Kangaroo Protection Coalition as the kangaroo-killing capital of Australia ("Territory 'roo-kill capital of Australia", September 4, p3)? Predictably, the Government is planning another study before authorising culling in public reserves. When the Government's kangaroo counters are on the job I hope they look over the fence into the grazing leases. I regularly see very large numbers of kangaroos grazing in the horse agistment paddocks at Duntroon, the adjacent Defence Academy sports grazing leases. Perhaps Pat O'Brien can persuade these kangaroos to move back to the grassless slopes of Mt Ainslie and Mt Majura, and then we'll all be happy. Letter to Canberra Times by James Elsbury, Campbell ********************************* A colony of yellow-footed rock wallaby in the Flinders Ranges will be the first species to benefit from a new conservation partnership. Optus and the Australian Wildlife Conservancy will protect a significant population of the mammals in the Buckaringa Wildlife Sanctuary. The rock wallaby is threatened by feral predators and its diminishing habitat. The sanctuary will be one of 15 established by Optus and AWC to protect native wildlife. AWC sanctuaries protect more than 55 per cent of mammals and more than 60 per cent of bird species. *Adelaide Advertiser ****************************** Kangaroo Quiz 1. How many species of kangaroos are there? 2. On what national icon is the kangaroo featured? 3. What family of marsupials do kangaroos belong to? 4. Which city hosts the sports team named The Kangaroos? 5. Can you name three of the kangaroo's smaller cousins? 6. Which four species are commonly referred to as kangaroos? 7. What is the average life expectancy of a kangaroo? 8. Kangaroos have been clocked at hopping up to how many km/h? 9. What is a group of kangaroos called? 10. Which European explorer first recorded the name kangaroo? ANSWERS BELOW ROO ANSWERS: 1. 63; 2. the Australian Coat of Arms; 3. Macropodidae; 4.Gold Coast; 5. pademelons, wallabies and quokka; 6. the red kangaroo, eastern grey kangaroo, western grey kangaroo and the antilopine kangaroo; 7. four to six years; 8. 70; 9. a mob, troop or court; 10. James Cook on August 4, 1770. Gold Coast Buletin ****************************** KANGAROOS are being hit by cars in increasing numbers on Victorian roads as the drought draws them to roadside areas and urban sprawl encroaches on their territory. RACV Insurance reported 2636 claims from motorists hitting kangaroos in the year to July — an increase of 26 per cent on the previous 12 months. Victoria Police do not keep statistics on animal-related collisions and it is not known how many road crashes or fatalities may have been caused by encounters with wildlife. Kangaroos are the animals most frequently reported in insurance claims, accounting for 71 per cent of the RACV's animal-related claims, followed by dogs (9 per cent) and wombats (5 per cent). There are an average of seven claims a day from motorists hitting kangaroos. The average cost of a kangaroo claim for the RACV last year was $2662. Of the $10.5 million cost of animal collisions last year, kangaroos accounted for $6.4 million. Department of Sustainability and Environment wildlife damage control officer Ian Temby said kangaroo numbers were up, as they had continued breeding throughout the drought. And many were being drawn to the sides of the state's roads in search of feed. "What you often get after rain is the road acts as a watershed, causing grass to germinate on the roadside when you may not have any anywhere else," Mr Temby said. "We are also encroaching onto kangaroo habitat and kangaroos inevitably get stuck in paved street areas." Mr Temby said the only way for motorists to avoid hitting kangaroos at night in wildlife areas was to slow down. "Kangaroos do not have much road sense. They are quite unpredictable and will hop along next to you and then suddenly jump in front of the car," he said. RACV figures show most kangaroos were hit on Victoria's road during autumn — mostly when they are on the move to and from grazing areas around dawn, from 5am to 7am, and near dusk, from 6pm to 7pm. Animal-related collision claims accounted for 3 per cent of all RACV claims in Victoria in 2006 and 7 per cent of all highway claims. And it's not just roos getting run down on our roads. "There's a stretch of the Hume Highway near Euroa that is semi-paved in koala fur," Mr Temby said. Wombats are a road hazard in eastern Victoria, particularly in Gippsland and Wilsons Promontory, and emus get hit in north-western Victoria. "There's also plenty of wildlife, such as echidnas and birds, that get hit without having any impact on cars and are never reported," Mr Temby said. RACV Insurance general manager Susan Allen urged drivers to be more vigilant in the country during September school holidays. "Crashing into a medium or large-sized animal, especially something like a kangaroo, can1 cause not only serious vehicle damage but also injury to the vehicle's occupants," she said. rural Press ******************************** Lean, green, clean and good for your heart. Kangaroo meat.
http://ginews.blogspot.com/2007/10/food-for-thought.html ....how to destroy the credibility of an otherwise good website...ask Michael Archer to contribute. We wonder how much the Industry paid him for this nonsense....... ******************************* WARNING signs, an honours thesis and a massive driver education campaign are being planned to help stop the carnage of Anglesea's kangaroos. The Surf Coast Shire, at this week's meeting, endorsed the community-based Kangaroo Action Plan, but stopped short of slowing traffic near the golf course in Anglesea in a bid to stop the number of the animals ending up as road kill. ``This is really driven by the community,'' Cr Beth Davidson said. ``People have been able to get together and say `this is something that affects us all and how do we work together on it?' ``The other significant thing is it's built around how we as residents, visitors and humans can co-exist with the indigenous fauna in our area.'' A host of community groups, wildlife schemes and government agencies worked together to help find a solution to the number of kangaroos and wallabies being killed or injured by vehicles at Anglesea and Aireys Inlet, the report said. ``It should be called a community-based human action plan because they're the problem,'' Cr Lindsay Schroeter told the meeting. ``Kangaroos know where to hop.'' The council will also investigate whether it will build an off-street viewing area on the boundary of the Anglesea Golf Club to allow visitors to see the kangaroos. The Kangaroo Action Group will also monitor the kangaroo population and the number of accidents involving kangaroos and manage the care of sick and injured animals. *Geelong Advertiser ******************************** |
