Kangamail, kangaroo archives 42

NSW NPWS is attempting to open up a new kangaroo commercial zone...in secret of course. However the Kangaroo Protection Coalition have blown the whistle on them. NSW NPWS of course wont say, but the new proposed zone may be up to 42,000 sq kilometres in size, or more, East and South from the Hunter Zone, including RLPB Areas of Scone, Mudgee, and Merriwa, and incorporating Young, Forbes, Molong, Dubbo, and Central Tablelands. Story will be in the Daily Telegraph on Thursday. If you live in these areas, lock up your kids, dogs, horses, kangaroos, and anything else you value, and be prepared for an influx of commercial kangaroo shooters.....unless we can stop it first! As the rest of the NSW commercial zones have been shot out, shooters can be expected to arrive from all over the State.

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MORE kangaroos should be slaughtered and eaten to help save the world from global warming, environmental activists say. The controversial call to cut down on beef and serve more of the national symbol on our dinner plates follows a report on curbing greenhouse gas emissions damaging the planet. Greenpeace energy campaigner Mark Wakeham urged Aussies to substitute some red meat for roo to help reduce land clearing and the release of methane gas. "It is one of the lifestyle changes we can make," Mr Wakeham said. "Changing our meat consumption habits is a small way to make an impact." The eat roo recommendation is contained in a report, Paths to a Low-Carbon Future, commissioned by Greenpeace and released today.

It also coincides with recent calls from climate change experts for people in rich countries to reduce red meat and switch to chicken and fish because land-clearing and burping and farting cattle and sheep were damaging the environment. They said nearly a quarter of the planet's greenhouse gases came from agriculture, which releases the potent heat-trapping gas methane. Roughly three million kangaroos are killed and harvested for meat each year. They are shot with high-powered guns between the eyes at night. Australians eat about a third of the 30 million kilograms of roo meat produced annually. The delicacy is exported to dozens of countries and is most popular in Germany, France and Belgium.

The Greenpeace report has renewed calls for Victoria to lift a ban on harvesting roos for food. Kangaroo Industry Association of Australia spokesman John Kelly said roos invading farmers' crops were already being illegally shot. "They are being culled and left to rot," Mr Kelly said. Kangaroo meat sold in Victoria is imported from interstate. Australia's kangaroo population has halved to 25 million in the past five years as the drought has taken a toll on breeding and the animals' food sources, Mr Kelly said.

Under a quota system, 10 to 12 per cent can be killed for the meat and leather industry. Aerial surveys estimate their numbers. Today's report by leading scientist Dr Mark Diesendorf, from the University of NSW, says greenhouse gas emissions need to be slashed by at least a third by 2020 to avoid a climate change catastrophe. His recommendations include:

REDUCING beef consumption and increasing kangaroo meat production. CUTTING gas and coal production. HALTING land clearing and deforestation. SHIFTING to renewable energy such as wind power and bioelectricity from crop residues. "The world is currently on track to experience runaway global warming with average temperatures soon to exceed 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels, Dr Diesendorf said. "We face a catastrophe unless there is urgent action to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 30 per cent by 2020." A major report by the CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology released this month warned average temperatures will rise 1C by 2030 and could increase as much as 5C in Australia by 2070 unless global greenhouse emissions are cut dramatically.

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KANGAROO MANAGEMENT AT DEFENCE SITES IN THE ACT Defence will implement a kangaroo management plan in the Australian Capital Territory designed to promote sound ecological management and a responsible approach to animal welfare. The plan will use a mix of translocation, fertility control and – only where necessary – euthanasia to bring the kangaroo population into balance with the ecosystem at the Belconnen Naval Transmitting Station (BNTS). Defence convened an expert panel in August 2007 to assess the environmental impact of the kangaroo population at BNTS and to recommend actions that will achieve a sustainable balance between kangaroo numbers and the local ecology.

The panel comprised some of Australia’s leading specialists on kangaroos, native temperate grasslands, reptiles and on responsible wildlife management. The BNTS site is fenced and the kangaroos are a captive population. A key requirement is that Defence manages the site to protect the area’s biodiversity and landscape values. The independent panel concluded that the structure of the grass swards and soil condition at BNTS showed very heavy grazing which threatened the long-term sustainability of the grassland.

The panel advised Eastern Grey kangaroos are the only significant grazing species on the site therefore reducing the density of the kangaroo population is essential to allow the grassland to regain the right structure and soil condition. The panel found that the kangaroo population was in good condition and that there were no current animal welfare considerations. Supplementary feeding will be introduced as a measure to save grass and soils. The kangaroo population will be reduced by using translocation, for as many as possible, allowing for state and territory licensing requirements – and selective humane euthanising.

The optimum number of kangaroos for the site is around 100. Fertility control will be used to keep the population at around that number. Clearly this is a sensitive issue in the community. Defence has taken every measure to ensure that we deal with the matter in a responsible way. Defence is tendering for a specialist contractor to implement the panel’s recommendations.

At the Majura Training Area (MTA) Defence has engaged a contractor to construct a kangaroo exclusion fence around threatened Natural Temperate Grassland. This temporary measure to protect fauna and flora from over-grazing will be supported by a comprehensive monitoring program. The expert panel will be invited to assess the MTA in the near future. Defence will continue to work with community groups and scientific specialists to further improve our kangaroo management strategies. Our commitment is to sustainable environmental management, protecting endangered ecological communities and threatened species and humanely managing over-abundant species.**

This was put on the Defence website on the 28th September. It appears that Defence have a different opinion than the politicians that run Defence do. Go to the following site for the media release http://www.defence.gov.au/media/DepartmentalTpl.cfm?CurrentId=7121

Ed Comment; What a load of codswallop. Three or four hundred kangaroos live comfortably on the site now, and have been there for decades. Why all of a sudden it can only support 100? And who are these experts that they convened to sit on an "expert" panel? Clearly they are the "experts" who want to kill the kangaroos so they can get some funding for fertility control experiments. Half of Belconnen is heavily contaminated, the other half has been earmarked for housing development. All of a sudden there is concern for native grasses, and a few lizards that are quite abundent elswhere around the ACT. We hasve written to the Minister asking for clarification.

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A major crash was narrowly averted at Bathurst yesterday after a kangaroo hopped on the track during qualifying. Half a dozen V8 race cars braked and swerved as the marsupial crossed the Mt Panorama track. The animal was lucky to escape with its life as it hopped across the bitumen. Braking cars sent plumes of blue smoke into the air as drivers narrowly avoided the roo amid gasps from fans. The distressed kangaroo eventually jumped away. Dick Johnson's Racing team had to repair significant damage to the front right side of the No.17 Falcon caused in dodging the animal. Tens of thousands of motorsport fans are expected to watch Bathurst 1000 today. *ABC

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The operator of an abattoir in Charleville, in southern Queensland, says people in the kangaroo meat industry could soon be unemployed until next year as the cull quota for kangaroo looms. This year's limit for harvesting wallaroos has been met and a ban on processing them takes effect tomorrow. John Burey from United Game Processors expects the annual quota for red and grey kangaroos will not be far behind. He says that will cause the industry to shut down until next year, leaving his 100 employees without an income. "If they weren't working for me - is there 100 casual jobs in Charleville? Perhaps not and if they do move somewhere else my business will certainly suffer because I may not get those staff back," he said. *ABC

Ed Comment; These kangaroo processing plant workers were bought in from Brazil. Burey should have to pay them anyway.