Kangaroo newsletter, Kangamail 44

Welcome to all our new readers,and supporters. This week's Kangamail comes from sunny but cold Adelaide, where I am attending the Animals Australia AGM and Public Symposium. The Symposium had many committed Speakers from overseas and from within Australia. I have to say it is totally awesome and inspiring to have 300 or so animal lovers and activists in one room! While I can recieve emails through the wonders of computer wireless, for some reason I can't send them! Kangamail is sent on a web-based server, so I can send it out, but not Wildlife Bytes, nor can I at the moment respond to individual emails, sorry.

Last week both John Dee from Planet Ark, and Mark Wakeham from Greenpeace came out publicly and supported the commercial kangaroo Industry. Both organisations have gone into damage control, but its too late...the damage has been done, and because their media profile (quite undeservedly ) is so high, they have managed to unravel years of hard work by many wildlife groups. While Greenpeace claim they were misrepresented in the media, it's very easy to say that. We'll have to wait and see just how hard they campaign for kangaroos in the future. While Planet Ark have not responded in any way, they are a pretty irrelevant organisation anyway, only getting involved in very soft issues that are not controversial. As a fundraising Foundation that raises money from business's that wish to appear "green", their motives for doing anything are suspect anyway. They don't appear to have responded to any emails about this matter that they have been sent. Bottom line is that they both made the statements, now they have to live with them. To subscribe to Kangamail go to www.kangaroosforever.com

They are not the only ones in damage control. Nicole Payne, (who runs the disastrous NSW Commercial Kangaroo K..ill Program) claims populations of red kangaroos have jumped 50 per cent in the Broken Hill region of far west New South Wales in just 12 months. Thats not what we are hearing. Perhaps they counted them in a National Park! * Editor.

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Greenpeace's response to their unfortunate comments are below, and quite frankly its not good enough for the damage they have done.

Hi all I was just forwarded a copy of the email that is going around telling people to lobby Greenpeace about what we are reported as having said in the Herald Sun (any one who's had any bruising encounters with the Herald Sun will know to be careful what you read there). Yesterday I sent the email below to several animal rights/welfare organisations but I may have missed yours. I'm happy to talk to you about this, and am also happy for you to forward the below thru your networks, Cheers, Mark

Hi folks, Yesterday a report partly funded by Greenpeace Australia Pacific, entitled “Paths to a Low Carbon Future” was released by Greenpeace Australia Pacific. The report was authored by Dr Mark Diesendorf of the Sustainability Centre. The report was detailing options for Australia to reach a 30% greenhouse reduction target by 2020. Its available at: http://www.greenpeace.org.au/blog/energy/?p=90

According to Dr Mark Diesendorf (Senior Lecturer at the University of New South Wales) Australia can cut its greenhouse pollution by 30% by 2020, but only if it gets really serious about shifting from coal to renewables, massively increasing energy efficiency and decarbonising our transport fleet. Australia will also need to eliminate landclearing and deforestation and consider changing some of its lifestyle choices to reduce greenhouse pollution. The report suggests, amongst other things, that substituting some Australian beef consumption for a lower meat diet and/or kangaroo meat would make a contribution to reducing emissions.

This suggestion in the report has been widely picked up by Australian media. Some media are claiming that “Greenpeace is urging kangaroo consumption to fight global warming”. This is not the case. This report was intended as a conversation starter and not all of the measures in the report are Greenpeace policy. We're disappointed that this has become the focus of much of the media attention of the report, and wanted to let you know the state of play. If you’d like any further information please contact Mark Wakeham on 03 9341 8127. Mark Wakeham Energy CampaignerGreenpeace Australia Pext 03 9341 8127 0409 542 753 mobile

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Stop Press; Govenor Arnold Swartzenneger has approved the sale of wildlife based products into California!

Stop Press; Lance Ferris, pelican man extra-ordinary, has passed away.

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The State Government is considering a plan by farmers to kill thousands of kangaroos for profit across a vast tract of land currently closed to commercial shooting. The Daily Telegraph understands two Rural Lands Protection Boards - Hunter and Mudgee-Merriwa - along with the NSW Farmers Association have applied to open up thousands of square kilometres of protected land. A spokesman for the Department of Environment and Climate Change (DECC) said the submission was received about three weeks ago. "We're considering it," he said.

Farmers argue culling under permit is already occurring in the protected zone to prevent damage to grazing and crop land but the carcasses cannot be used for commercial gain. "You get enormous numbers of roos out there," NSW Farmers Association president Jock Laurie said. "What's the point in wasting the roos? Why not turn it into profit?" he said. "There are huge numbers of roos in that particular part of the country competing with livestock for foliage and water." But animal lovers are concerned kangaroo populations are already strained under the weight of the drought and proper public consultation is needed if new commercial areas are to be opened up.

"The new commercial shooting area is being opened because the industry has run out of kangaroos in the western shooting zones," Wildlife Protection Association of Australia president Pat OBrien said. "Only 7 per cent of NSW is protected habitat for kangaroos - everywhere else is available for kangaroo shooting. "The 7 per cent consists of a few scattered national parks with no connecting corridors for kangaroos to move out of safely."

Mr O'Brien said the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service opened a new area 10 times the size of the ACT to commercial culling four years ago with little public input. "Shooters flooded into this area from all over NSW and rapidly shot out the kangaroos," he said. Under the state's kangaroo management plan, four kangaroo species - the red kangaroo, the eastern grey, the western grey and the wallaroo - can be killed under licence for commercial gain. Most are taken by professional shooters. By the end of July this year, almost 500,000 had been killed out of a quota of around 941,000. *Daily Telegraph

Ed Comment; What the farmers do (and in collusion with NSW NPWS, and they did it secretly to get the Southeast Zone opened in 2002,) is that they all apply for shooting permits. Then they argue that they killed say, 40,000 kangaroos, and why waste the bodies. There is no requirement to prove they actually shot those kangaroos. However while a farmer may shoot a few kangaroos that he sees, farmers in no way shoot as many as an aggressive, financially and mentally challenged kangaroo shooter...or 20 or 30 of them. However, this time we found about about plan and hopefully we may be able to stop it.

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Populations of red kangaroos have jumped 50 per cent in the Broken Hill region of far west New South Wales in just 12 months. Numbers had been decimated by the drought, but the latest aerial survey has found the area's red roo population has topped the one million mark and is climbing back to pre-drought levels. Nicole Payne from the New South Wales Kangaroo Management Program, says while it's a healthy sign, the roos can cause problems for pastoralists.

"I speak to quite a few landholders and their opinions on the kind of numbers of kangaroos they like to see in the landscape does vary widely," she says. "There are those who believe that the kangaroos do compete strongly for their pasture and they would like to see kangaroo numbers remain low as they are now compared to what they were five or six years ago before the drought." *ABC

Ed Comment; this person runs the NSW commercial kangaroo Kill, and such an increase is not physically possible!

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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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Defence Media Release

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.

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The words "shoe" and "foot" don't begin to explain the relationship between Jackie Cruz, a 20-year-old semi-pro soccer player in this town east of San Francisco, and her kangaroo skin soccer cleats. Cruz doesn't just wear her kangaroo skin soccer cleats, she deeply, reverently adores them. "I definitely do love the kangaroo leather," said Cruz, touching the glove-soft kangaroo leather on a Nike Air Legend at a sports store here. "When I wear them, it feels like it's my own foot. I have more ball control." But kangaroo leather isn't supposed to be sold in California, where it has been banned since 1970.

Now, after a debate that has stirred commentary about Winnie the Pooh and his friends Kanga and Roo, the snakeskin cowboy boots worn by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the mysterious quality of "touch" on a soccer ball, the state's ban on the sale of kangaroo products will be upheld or reversed by Sunday at midnight, the deadline for the governor to act. California, the only state in the nation that has such a law, would continue to ban products from endangered species of kangaroo if the existing ban is lifted.

The California ban on the sale of kangaroo skins, meat and other products began when animal rights groups launched an emotional campaign depicting the killing of kangaroos and their baby joeys in Australia. Nationally, a ban on products made from three threatened kangaroo species -- red, eastern grey and western grey -- was put in place in 1974 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, but then lifted in 1981. According to the Australian government, the population of red, eastern grey and western grey kangaroos has rebounded significantly and in 2005 stood at 25 million.

Australia permits exports

While some kangaroo species are considered endangered, the Australian government permits exportation of kangaroo leather and meat, and many in the nation consider the kangaroos' large population a nuisance. "Australia's wildlife management policies should be respected," said Andrea Corso, spokeswoman for Adidas America, said in an e-mail statement. Adidas, which said that less than 1 percent of its U.S. footwear sales involve kangaroo leather, lobbied the state Assembly for passage of SB 880, which would repeal the ban. The bill is on the governor's desk and if he doesn't veto or sign it, inaction will turn it into law, meaning the ban is repealed.

Kangaroo skin has a devoted following among soccer players around the world who say the the leather's supple texture gives them a better feel for the ball. But after a multiyear campaign by Viva! Vegetarian International Voice for Animals to get international soccer star David Beckham to stop wearing kangaroo leather Adidas Predators, the soccer star last year announced he would be wearing a synthetic version of the shoe.

The move was an enormous victory for animal-rights activists, who said there was no reason to argue that the kangaroo leather provided a better touch on the ball. "No one's going to say that David Beckham plays soccer any worse because of the shoes he's wearing," said Lauren Ornelas, spokeswoman for Viva! USA. Beckham, arguably the most recognizable soccer player in the world, now plays for the Los Angeles Galaxy.

A poorly enforced ban

Ironically, the ban against selling kangaroo skin shoes in California appears to have been poorly enforced for decades. "For unknown reasons, California Fish and Wildlife haven't been enforcing this law," said Bob Jimenez, spokesman for state Sen. Ron Calderon, who sponsored the measure. "They're being sold all over the place." Last July, Viva won a lawsuit against Adidas for selling kangaroo-skin shoes in California. Ruling in favor of Viva, the state Supreme Court stated that the federal law allowing the sale of kangaroo products did not override the California ban.

"The ruling stated the constitutionality of the law," said Ornelas. "The state Legislature passed this law because of the way baby kangaroos are ripped from their mother's pouches and, according to the code of practice in Australia, decapitated or bludgeoned." At the Soccer Post, an equipment store in Alameda, owner Tom Matson said he sells more Adidas Copa Mundial kangaroo leather shoes for adults than all his other adult soccer shoes combined. He said the move to keep the ban on kangaroo leather had more to do with the emotional appeal of kangaroos. "It's the Winnie the Pooh story, with Kanga and Roo," he said. "Is it any less inhumane to kill a cow for its skin to make a shoe than to slaughter a kangaroo?" He added, "If you're going to ban kangaroo skin, isn't the next question that we have to ban cowhide?"

Uses for kangaroo

Australia is home to more than 25 million kangaroos. There are some 60 species of kangaroos and their close relatives. Their leather is used in shoes, boots, belts and gloves as well as items such as purses and backpacks. The meat is low in fat and high in protein. It can be processed into different cuts for people and is also used as pet food. Source: Kangaroo Industry Association of Australia, Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade * Chicago Tribune

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The Big Dry has so depleted cattle numbers that helicopter musterer Brian Dayes has had to supplement his income by shooting kangaroos. "It has been pretty tough with properties down to 20 per cent of their normal season stocking rate," he said. "With only a couple of days a week flying, I had to take up roo shooting just to make ends meet. "Without much flying the avenue to make a dollar has been a bit limited." Despite a lack of cattle fodder, kangaroos did all right on very short grass the stock would not touch and some properties estimated they had mobs of up to 20,000, even though professional shooters were taking nightly bags.

Mr Dayes said he had been shooting for the past two years but there was more mustering business at present around Windorah, the far southwestern Queensland town where he is based. "I am now flying up to five days a week as some of the big pastoral companies around here are pulling the weaners off cows to give the old girls a chance, so they are not draining them," he said. "Bullocks are being mustered for feedlots and some people are simply destocking because they want to cut their losses should the drought go on. "But conditions out here have been so harsh that when you muster 1000 so-called bullocks, only about 52 per cent meet weight – 500 to 520kg."

At $315 an hour for the helicopter, some graziers thought twice before they called him in. Mr Dayes said mustering with a helicopter was "as safe as you make it" and he would be "lying if I told you I have not given myself a couple of frights in the eight years I have been working out here". "Mustering cattle is not like you see on television where the choppers seem to be in the face of the cattle all the time," he said. "We try to take a lot more care of the stock and look after them and go steady. "Unlike a fixed-wing aircraft, with a chopper you can slip around to the lead and block them up and they have a little blow. "If you have to get in to get the stubborn ones, you do so and then just sit back on them and push them along slowly from a height of about 45m." *Courier Mail

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