Kangaroo Archives, newsletter Kangamail 46

Defence takes action to control kangaroos in ACT *Paul Malone, Canberra Times

The Defence Department has tendered for a specialist contractor to control kangaroos on two of its sites in the ACT. The department has also engaged a contractor to build fences at the two sites the Majura training area and the former Belconnen Naval Transmitting Station. A spokesman for the department, Brigadier Andrew Nikolic, said they expected to finalise the tender contract within a few weeks and kangaroo management protocols would begin shortly after. The fence at Belconnen was now built and would protect the endangered herb, the Ginninderra peppercress, and other ecological communities.

The fence at the Majura training area was due to be completed in mid-December. It will keep out kangaroos and protect the endangered natural temperate grassland from overgrazing. The department was responding to ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope, who said the Commonwealth's inaction at the sites was putting needless strain on a number of endangered species, including the grassland earless dragon. Mr Stanhope asked the Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment, Maxine Cooper to inquire into the management of Canberra's grasslands and the vulnerability of their ecosystems.

He said Defence was putting gravely endangered species at heightened risk of localised extinction at the two critical sites. Brigadier Nikolic said Defence took its environmental management responsibilities seriously and was working to implement the recommendations of a panel of independent experts. Defence said last month it would cull and relocate 1000 kangaroos from the Belconnen site. Dr Cooper said she would seek cooperation from all parties to resolve the threat kangaroos posed to the grasslands and ecosystems.

The earless dragon has also been found on a block of territory land at Narrabundah Lane in Symonston, which the ACT Government wants to swap to resolve a conflict over the Narrabundah Long-Stay Caravan Park. Dr Cooper said she would look at the two Defence sites, the caravan park site and grasslands across the ACT. It was unlikely she would recommend the caravan park land swap not go ahead because of the threat to the earless dragon. She understood from her preliminary assessment the caravan park site had received good advice and would have a couple of new reserves.

She said she would also look at the grassland adjacent to the Belconnen site, which is used for grazing cattle. "I'll be taking in the broad context in order to find the most appropriate management ways for dealing with our rare and protected species." She said most people didn't want to kiss and cuddle the earless dragon, but Australian reptiles were very important native animals. The earless dragon was a very captivating little animal to look at. *Canberra Times

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Kangaroos as scapegoats That the ACT Commissioner for the Environment, Maxine Cooper, will conduct the inquiry after "fears" that overgrazing by kangaroos is threatening endangered species is totally unfounded and absurd. Kangaroos do not over-graze and destroy the soil. They are capable of eating poor quality grasses and their impact is minimal. They are perfectly adapted to their environment after more than 16 million years. This is a euphemism for having these animal trapped into fenced areas! How often are kangaroos blamed for soil damage and land deterioration when it is introduced grazing animals that have made the negative impacts on our landscapes? Kangaroos are used as a scapegoat and are so often classified as "pests" or a "plague" as an excuse to cull them. *Vivienne, Heidelberg Heights, Vic *ABC Opinion

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Grasslands to be subject of inquiry

An inquiry will be held into the management of grasslands and endangered species in the ACT. The ACT Commissioner for the Environment, Maxine Cooper, will conduct the inquiry after fears that overgrazing by kangaroos is threatening endangered species. The Department of Defence is trying to manage expanding kangaroo populations on its sites at Majura and Belconnen. Chief Minister Jon Stanhope says the inquiry is needed into land management on these sites and other high-value areas of grasslands. But Greens MLA Deb Foskey says the ACT Government has not lived up to promises to protect grasslands in the Jerrabomberra Valley. "We now know that ACTPLA is talking about an industrial corridor, we know that there are at least two roads planned for that area, so it's quite crucial that something gets done very very soon," she said.

"The ALP went to the last ACT election promising to protect 400 hectares of grassland which is home to the earless dragon in the Jerrabomberra Valley. "Well we're only a year away from another election and that grassland still isn't protected." Maxine Cooper says cooperation is the key issue. "We will be addressing what are the problems," she said. "Why do we have the inertia? "Everybody get around the table and actually work together. "I don't think everybody who needs to be involved in this has actually all been in the one room at the same time putting their issues on the table then seeing how they can help each other." *ABC

Ed Comment; Anything that Maxine Cooper is involved with is suspect. She will sit all her cronies around the table, and produce a result that suits Maxine Cooper......kill all the kangaroos...because they eat grass...and they dont vote.... There is no limit to what the ACT Labor government wil do to get rid of their kangaroos.

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The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is dismayed at recent reports of native animals being killed around Narrandera and is calling on people to obey the laws. NPWS Ranger Leigh Granger said that NPWS has received a number of reports of people shooting kangaroos and koalas. "I am outraged by reports that koalas and kangaroos are being killed. They are native animals and are protected in New South Wales." "The act of shooting these native species should be condemned by everyone." "Heavy penalties are in place for those disobeying the laws. Police will be patrolling the Narrandera area, especially around the Murrumbidgee River."

Ms Granger made clear that it is illegal to kill kangaroos without a licence. "The National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 and the National Parks and Wildlife Regulation 2002 make provisions for the licensing of a range of activities relating to the commercial harvesting of kangaroos in New South Wales." "Landholders having problems with kangaroos can also obtain a licence for crop protection." "Kangaroos can only be taken if the person holds a licence issued by the Department of Environment and Climate Change, of which NPWS is a part." "But without a licence you will be breaking the law and can be fined. You must also abide by the conditions on any licence issued." Anyone requiring more information on licensing can contact the NPWS Griffith office. * NSWNPWS Medias Release

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URGENT ACTION required to stop last nail going into the kangaroo coffin. Please ask all your friends, colleagues & family to write letters and forward this e-mail to your lists.

Background below:

Greenpeace commissioned report “Paths to a Low-Carbon Future” by Dr Mark Diesendorf from the University of NSW. http://www.greenpeace.org.au/blog/energy/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/diesendorf-report_1007.pdf Karen Collier from Herald Sun has written the article "Greenpeace Urges Kangaroo Consumption to Fight Global Warming" http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22562480-662,00.html

Mark Wakeham from Greenpeace claims they were misrepresented in the media. However he did nothing to clarify in the media Greenpeace's position re: slaughter of kangaroos and consumption of kangaroos' flesh, inspite of WLPA (World League for Protection of Animals) requesting him to do that. He said to us that:"Greenpeace does not have a policy on the commercial kangaroo industry, but we have been clear in responding to any inquiries we have, that eating kangaroos is not Greenpeace policy". Greenpeace has a high media profile so unfortunately the article in the Herald Sun has undermined years of hard work by many wildlife groups. Already today Dana Thompson from University S.A, interviewed on the ABC Bush Telegraph, commented that even groups such Greenpeace are promoting the eating of kangaroo flesh. As the public is influenced by organisations such as Greenpeace, it is of the utmost importance that Greenpeace will correct the impression given in the media and state that eating kangaroo flesh is not Greenpeace policy. Otherwise the public is left with a false impression and this will be the last nail to the kangaroo's coffin.

Could you please urgently contact Greenpeace and ask them to state publicly via a Media Realease that they do not promote eating kangaroo meat. Also please contact Herald Sun, Bush Telegraph & Dr Diesendorf. Details below.

1) GREENPEACE a) Greenpeace International

Email: supporter.services@int.greenpeace.org

Ottho Heldringstraat 5 1066 AZ Amsterdam The Netherlands Tel: +31 20 7182000 Fax: +31 20 5148151

b) Steve Shallhorn CEO of Greenpeace Australia greenpeace@au.greenpeace.org

c) Mark Wakeham - Energy Campaigner Greenpeace Australia Pacific mark.wakeham@au.greenpeace.org tel: 03 9341 8127 mob 0409 542 753 Please request that Greenpeace (GP) issues a media release stating that they do not support the commercial slaughter of kangaroos. If you are a member of GP you might wish to state your commitment to support (or not) GP in the future. You might wish to include points such as:- environmental disaster (numbers collapsing, drought, genepool weakened) Tim Flannery in his book COUNTRY writes about a study by Researcher Alan Newsome on red kangaroo populations which showed that when kangaroos moved into shade-less plains and their testicles heated up, their fertility plummeted. It is therefore obvious that with the rise in temperature due to global warming, kangaroos will become far less fertile – Tim Flannery warns…. “Newsome’s study provided a valuable insight on how delicately balanced life is on this continent, and how easy it is to damage its creatures. It also filled me with fear for the future of the large kangaroos in the face of global warming”. End quote.

Dr.David Croft from UNSW is the foremost macropod specialist in this country and is based at the Sturt National Park. He has warned that kangaroo populations have crashed and that global warming will reduce fertility and add to the population crash.

- economic infeasibility (to replace even a portion of current beef consumption we would need to be killing the entire kangaroo population hundreds of times over each year) see attachment - cruelty especially to joeys (in-pouch & at foot), mob families trashed. For more info re: kangaroo please visit www.awpc.org.au or www.kangaroo-protection-coalition.com

Please contact also media and request that they give equal voice to the animal protection groups opposing kangaroo slaughter.

2) Karen Collier - Herald Sun, go to http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun

then click on "Opinion" tag, then choose from menu "Send a letter to the editor"

3) Michael Mackenzie - the Bush Telegraph presenter on ABC Radio National.

mackenzie.michael@abc.net.au

Phone: (03) 9626 1225

Fax: (03) 9626 1733

To contact ABC Rural please use form on http://www.abc.net.au/rural/contact/

You might also wish to contact author of the Report “Paths to a Low-Carbon Future” 4) Dr Mark Diesendorf, Institute of Environmental Studies,University of NSW tel (02) 9801 2976am, (02) 9385 5707pm, mob. 0402 940 892, fax: (02)9663 1015 email m.diesendorf@unsw.edu.au

If you have time to write only one letter please write to Greenpeace.

Block of emails below is for your convenience. You can copy it and paste to "To:" field in your e-mail program.

greenpeace@au.greenpeace.org; mark.wakeham@au.greenpeace.org; supporter.services@int.greenpeace.org Network Item

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What's that, Skip, you don't want to be dinner? Come on, there are millions of you. By Barry Cohen.

It is a tale worth retelling whenever Australia's treatment of her national symbol is brought into question. On my first visit to The Old Dart as environment minister, circa 1983, my First Lady woke me and suggested I cast an optic out the window of our London hotel. I spotted a 5m-tall blow-up, orange kangaroo accompanied by protesters holding signs emblazoned: "Cohen The Kangaroo Killer Is In Town". A closer inspection was called for. The ringleader, dressed in the traditional garb of the environmentally committed, was easily recognisable. "What's the problem?" I asked.

"This dreadful fellow Cohen is slaughtering millions of kangaroos to the point of extinction," he fumed. "Which particular species are you concerned about?" I got a blank look. "Do you know the number of different species? I asked. "Three? ... five? ..." "Close. There are 51 species. Six are extinct, 10 are vulnerable with the balance common or abundant. Seven species are culled - Red, Eastern and Western Greys, Wallaroos, Bennetts and Whiptail Wallabies and the Tasmanian Pademelon." "How do you know all this?" "I'm Cohen."

I felt sorry for the poor fellow. He left red-faced. A quarter of a century on I'm still appalled when animal welfare groups stage their periodic "Save the kangaroo" campaigns with their ill-informed and dishonest propaganda. No better example exists than the debate raging in the Canberra media about the proposal by the Department of Defence to cull 4000 of the 8500 Eastern Grey kangaroos from their Majura Road and Belconnen properties. The cull has the support of the ACT government and environmental scientists concerned about the damage being done to native grasslands and endangered fauna.

Opposing the cull is Wildcare Queanbeyan, an animal welfare group supported by citizens also with professional expertise - in economics. Defence bowed to the economists. A recent headline in The Canberra Times, "Defence Backflip: Roo Cull Gets Nod", recommending translocation, sterilisation and, where necessary, euthanasia, suggested Defence had reverted to its original position. Not so. They were referring only to the 500 kangaroos at Belconnen. Talk of translocation is madness. From personal experience, I know it costs $500 per animal at least. And no one wants them.

Two federal departments, Defence and Environment, have two different policies. While Defence has gone off on an adventure of its own, Environment supports the "National Kangaroo Management Plan" which it developed after decades of research to ensure that species in plague proportions did not overrun our farmlands. With few predators, and dams, crops and pastures developed since European settlement, the abundant species can vary in numbers from 10 to 50 million. The smaller species subject to predation from foxes and cats are the ones in need of protection.

The anti-cull movement claims that estimates of kangaroo numbers in Canberra and the damage is not based on scientific evidence. They should read the annual reports from the states on which the cull quota is based and talk to the ACT Parks Service which annually collect around 1000 road kill carcasses. The annual national cull has varied during the past 25 years from 2.5 million to 7 million. This year it is 3.6 million of which 1.48 million (41%) are Eastern Greys.

While the culling debate at Defence sites raged, The Australian reported: "California's high court has ruled that football shoes made from kangaroo leather cannot be sold in the state, rejecting arguments from sportswear giant Adidas. Lawyers for Adidas argued that the ban on kangaroo products in California was in conflict with a US federal law that allows for imports of kangaroo-skin items.

"But the San Francisco-based court unanimously ruled in favour of a British animal rights group, Viva! [Vegetarians] International Voice for Animals, which challenged Adidas and retail outlets arguing that US states can enact stricter wildlife protection than the federal government. The animal rights group claims kangaroos are slaughtered in a cruel manner and says hunters are often not able to distinguish whether species are endangered or not."

Those with the slightest knowledge of kangaroos would be open-mouthed at such nonsense. As the minister responsible for setting the annual cull quota from 1983-87, I have more than a passing knowledge of the subject and, as someone who spent 15 years and every cent I had in planning, designing, building and running a wildlife sanctuary, I was appalled at Viva's blatant dishonesty. (Late reports indicate that California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is about to reverse the ban.)

Viva, meanwhile, is now targeting Stella McCartney - vegetarian, anti-fur campaigner and daughter of Paul McCartney - because her new sportswear range is due to be unveiled soon by Adidas at London Fashion Week. Animal Aid director Andrew Tyler says: "Adidas' use of kangaroo skin is inexcusably cruel." He provides no evidence of cruelty nor any comprehension that the cull numbers are due to the population explosion into tens of millions - some of which die an agonising death by starvation. The killing method of professional kangaroo shooters is as humane as possible. As minister, I accompanied a shooter and 19 of the 20 kangaroos he shot died instantly from head shots. Recent surveys indicate that 96% of all kangaroos are killed instantly.

Even more absurd is Viva's claim that shooters can't distinguish endangered species. These days the kangaroos harvested are Reds, Eastern and Western Greys and Wallaroos. They generally exceed 2m in height and weigh between 60kg and 80kg. Most rare and endangered species are small, weighing up to 5kg, including the Bridled Nailtail Wallaby, Brush-tailed Bettong, Rufous Hare-Wallaby, Yellow-footed Wallaby and Parma Wallaby. They are of no interest to pro shooters, whose income depends on skin size and weight. Only outside Australia could Viva spout such nonsense unchallenged. I found that was so when I met US congressmen who accepted the facts but shrugged; "Animal welfare groups vote in my district, Australians don't."

If Wildcare and Viva were genuinely concerned, they would be calling on Australian governments to take action against foxes and cats that decimate our smaller species. Finally, a message to the clown from Britain's The Guardian who recently wrote: "Munching on your country's national icon can be embarrassing business: Americans are reluctant to char-grill bald eagles and the queen rarely serves lion (let alone unicorn) to her guests. But in Australia, smart restaurants in Sydney dish up wallaby carpaccio and kangaroo lasagne."

If 50 million lions were roaming Great Britain then, I'll wager, Her Majesty would be serving lion for breakfast, dinner and tea. As for unicorns, they're as hard to find as a decent Pommy cricketer. Barry Cohen was a federal MP from 1969-1990 and minister for arts, heritage and the environment 1983-87. He spent 15 years designing, building and managing an Australian wildlife sanctuary at Calga, NSW.

Ed Comment; Barry Cohen used to be the Federal Environment Minister, fortunately for only 4 years. If I were him, I'd keep it quiet that he was responsible for setting kangaroo kill quotas, or anything else to do with the kangaroo kill. It's nothing to be proud of, and he should get himself informed about the current kangaroo situation, not what was happening in 1983.

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Farming Kangaroos

There is much touting of the benefits of farming native species but it is quite clear that none of the proponents have bothered with a proper costing under realistic conditions. So this article will take the dreamers and the urban visionaries on a wee trip out reality way. So come along now, it’s not that far, and it won't hurt at all if you stay on the track.

The first thing you need to know is that kangaroos need a 2.4m high fence, preferably mesh. And that means a 3m post. A standard 0.9m wire fence for sheep or cattle is about $5 per metre. So if we take a typical 120ha coastal property that is 400m wide and 3km deep, it will need 6,800m of boundary fences. At $5 a metre that is $34,000 for an average boundary fence. A kangaroo fence would be at least triple that. That is, $102,000 before any division into grazing cells. Cut that up into six paddocks with five new cross fences and add another 2,000m at $15/m and this supposedly simple common sense alternative farming is loaded with $132,000 in debt before a single kangaroo is bought or sold. At 7 per cent interest that is $9,240 each year on top of all existing expenses.

Ten kangaroos eat the grass of one cow and most coastal pastures will run a cow to the hectare. So this typical property would carry a mob of 1,200 adult kangaroos which would enable the sale of 400 each year comprising young surplus males and older post breeding females. But wait, if the property is 30 per cent forested, as most are, then the carrying capacity will drop to about 900 kangaroos. Neither kangaroos nor cows eat trees, remember? So the cost of the fence will need to be covered by the revised third of the mob that is available for sale each year. This will amount to $30.80 each animal sold.

And of course, looking after 900 kangaroos is going to be even more work than looking after 90 cows. For a start, cows don't slam into fences some 2m off the ground at 60km/h like kangaroos do. So we will need at least an average full-time wage of $50,000 a year to run the farm or $167 for each kangaroo sold.

Toss in, among other things, rates, fuel and vehicle depreciation and we need another $20,000, or $67 for each kangaroo sold. Add the standard 5 per cent return on the value of the land (at $10,000 per hectare) that the rest of the community expects and we get 5 per cent of $1,200,000 or another $60,000 a year. And this adds another $200 to the cost of each kangaroo sold.

All up, each kangaroo sold will have to be worth $465 more than what the farmer paid for it, or could have received for it if he sold it as a joey the year before. The problem is, according to Michael Archer and Tim Flannery, that the young male and mature female Eastern Grey Kangaroos only weigh an average of about 31kg live weight. And this means their cost price would be $15/kg in the yard against the current beef price of about $2.00/kg. And this would mean the retail price of kangaroo meat would be 7.5 times higher than the current price of beef. And that would mean the urban consumer would need to pay $150/kg for kangaroo steak and $75/kg for mince.

And before any Australian farmer would go to the trouble of writing off all his existing fences and make the investment needed to switch to kangaroo farming, he will need an absolute cast iron guarantee from the urban public that they will:

purchase the same amount of meat that they do now; pay the full $150/kg for that meat rather than buy the imported $20/kg beef that sits on the supermarket shelf beside the kangaroo meat; and agree to subsidise enough kangaroo meat (by $13/kg live weight) to ensure that we retain all our existing export markets. Fat chance?

In effect, point 2 above, would amount to a 650 per cent tariff on imported meat while point 3 would amount to a similar scale export subsidy for our even greater volume of export meat. It is a level that would make even the most recalcitrant Euro-spiv blush. And in the face of such excess, our trading partners would have great difficulty taking us seriously in any trade negotiations.

So there can be only one conclusion here. Without these undertakings no farm in Australia could survive. And even if they were forthcoming, there is no doubting that kangaroo farming is unsustainable. Worse, the myth of sustainable kangaroo farming is a dangerous delusion of the ill-informed that can be used to portray conventional farmers as lazy, ignorant folk who will not innovate to save their own skin. Nothing could be further from the truth. And the last thing they need when dealing with the environmental challenges they face is the fatuous whimsies of half-baked urban planeteers who decry the supposed unsustainable practice of existing farming operations while promoting a far less sustainable alternative.

Article edited by Angus Ibbott. *Froom Blog site Online Opinion

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Australian kangaroo shooters claim soccer star David Beckham is sending them broke by boycotting boots made from roo leather. In a report to air on A Current Affair recently roo shooters says the star's decision is hurting them financially. "He sees it as saving a few kangaroo lives but he's probably putting a few of us out business," shooter Jay Schulte told reporter Chris Allen. Beckham hung up his Adidas Predator soccer boots in June this year, a month later a court in California reinforced a ban on the sale of roo products. It is illegal to import kangaroo meat or skin to California. The 32-year-old star has a multimillion dollar contract with Adidas and up until June, had been the face of the company's Predator publicity campaign.

Shooters claim roo numbers are at plague proportions in parts of rural Australia. They also insist that they kill the animal in the most humane way possible. Animal rights group, PETA disagree. "They (the Beckhams) don't want these animals killed and they don't want to have their public image sullied by wearing skins that are our national treasures," said PETA spokesperson Dan Matthews.

Farmer Graham Mackney has been selling his roo skins for over thirty years and claims Beckham is interfering with a long-established and viable industry. "It's my living, I've been doing it for thirty years. I'm not interfering with his living, so why should he interfere with mine?" Mr Mackney said.

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