Kangaroo newsletter Archives 9STRONG KANGAROO MEAT DEMAND CONTINUES, LIFTS PRICES Queensland's United Game Processors report prices for kangaroo meat are running at record levels, of 90¢/kg (carcase weight). The association reports that demand is increasing, from both the pet food industry, and for human consumption. According to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), kangaroo meat is becoming increasingly popular, with exports expected to increase further in coming years. DFAT says the industry now exports kangaroo meat to more than 55 countries.The European Union and Russia are the most important markets, with the US and Asia increasingly important.SOURCE: MLA market news.* ******************************************** Kangaroo meat exports jump even as drought culls supply. Exports of kangaroo meat have bounced to an all-time high, with hunters expected to take the maximum quota for the first time. But the drought has meant there are fewer kangaroos available to be shot to meet the demand. Australian kangaroos are a popular delicacy in some of the finest restaurants in France and Germany. They are stocked on British supermarket shelves and are even used in Russian sausages. Professional shooter Ron Cugley, from Deniliquin in southern NSW, normally shoots up to 40 kangaroos a night with his customised Remington .223 rifle. "The drought means the kangaroo population has dropped to around half what there were two years ago," Mr Cugley said. "People out there are screaming for kangaroo meat. The fall in supply means the price is good and the demand is high." The Australian Government quota for kangaroos to be culled in NSW is almost 1.2 million this year compared with 2.1 million in 2002. Mr Cugley, 59, field dresses the kangaroos he shoots each night and puts them in a chiller for collection by the Australian Meats processing factory truck. He commands 80 cents a kilogram. This compares with the 50 cents he got when the kangaroo population was high. Australian Meats general manager Wayne Earls said: "The prices for kangaroo meat from overseas are very good but there is a shortage of supply." Kangaroo Industry executive officer John Kelly said: "The industry is at its most buoyant. We are doing well on export and it is being accepted in the local market - it is in Coles nationally now." The kangaroo industry employs 4000 people nationally - half of whom are hunters - and is worth $200 million a year. "We export to over 60 countries and have grown at a rate of around 5 per cent per annum for the last 20 years," Mr Kelly said. "There are not many rural industries that can say that." He said this year's low quota, about 10 to 12 per cent of the total kangaroo population, meant that the industry would probably take the full quota for the first time. The National Parks and Wildlife Service manages the commercial shooting of kangaroos by issuing the shooters with sequentially numbered tags that are placed on each carcass. Despite the drought, Mr Kelly said the kangaroo remained a "super abundant" species with man-made waterholes ensuring their survival. * SMH 4 Sept. 05 ******************************************** MORE than 100 emaciated kangaroos were freed from a Brisbane City Council-owned property yesterday in what the RSPCA said was a life-saving exercise. It'S not a fair dinkum image: more than 100 kangaroos, a symbol in our coat of arms, imprisoned and starving inside the perimeter fence of a Brisbane council-owned sewerage treatment plant. The RSPCA also thought the predicament was not fair dinkum and yesterday mounted an operation to free the kangaroos who were living inside the Wacol Wastewater Treatment Plant grounds on acreage devoid of any edible growth, but thick with animal faeces. The mob of eastern grey kangaroos and wallabies were the descendants of a handful of animals that had slipped through the entrance to the Wacol Wastewater Treatment Plant about 17 years ago. Separated from the outside world, the original group had bred, multiplied and survived, but drought had left them starving. Sympathetic plant staff had given the roos and wallabies water and had been asking the council to address the issue for months. The last straw was when several adults and 10 joeys were found dead last week. The council contacted the RSPCA and society chief inspector Byron Hall said he had visited the plant on Friday. "I was absolutely appalled, we've got a situation here where they're slowly staving to death," Mr Hall said. "This is like locking your dog in the backyard and never cleaning up the mess. "I think it's incredible in today's day and age that we've got an enclosure owned by the Brisbane City Council . . . there's over 100 kangaroos in here and they're trapped, they can't get out. There's nothing for them to eat." Council officers cut wiring from eight sections of the plant's fence and removed the fence posts. RSPCA staff then began what they thought was an achievable task of herding the animals from the vast open areas of the paddocks to the peeled back fence area in one corner. They had three attempts at herding them in a slowly paced fashion to prevent a stampede and the possibility kangaroos would hit the fence posts at full speed and have to be put down. Alas, the herding exercise proved near impossible, with only about 20 kangaroos choosing to escape. The rest, it seemed, had become so used to the enclosed perimeter fence, they didn't believe it had gone and baulked at going across. One kangaroo that escaped eventually bounded back, as if to put fair dinkum kangaroo mateship ahead of freedom. The RSPCA said it was not considering charging the council with animal neglect. * Courier Mail. ED Comment. RSPCA have said they won’t prosecute, so I’ve written to the Minister asking her to prosecute. Her reply was pathetic. ******************************************** Kangaroo stays one jump ahead in Germany. A kangaroo named Jumpy has evaded capture for the fourth day after escaping from his owners in the southern state of Bavaria, police say.Last seen in the courtyard of an office building in the town of Erlangen, the animal dodged police and firefighters and leapt over a fence to freedom.
The 50 centimetre tall tree kangaroo, which had been kept in a pen in the nearby town of Veitsbronn, has been missing since Saturday. The owners have now enlisted a veterinarian to try to outfox Jumpy. Experts say kangaroos that have lived in captivity can survive for months in the wild. "They eat like sheep, chewing on branches, grass and fallen leaves," the director of the zoo in the southern city of Nuremberg, Dag Encke, said. He says the current warm and dry weather conditions suited kangaroos, but he noted that the animal was probably experiencing a certain amount of stress because it is alone and being chased". -AFP August 31 ******************************************** Reporter: Tim Jeanes ELEANOR HALL: Australia's famous King Island is set to become the latest battleground for animal welfare groups. Farmers on the island have taken to poisoning the native wallabies, in an effort to deal with a population explosion of the marsupials, and there are now proposals that wallaby meat be sold overseas. The situation has outraged animal welfare groups, with some calling for boycotts of King Island produce, as Tim Jeanes reports. (Sound of chef chopping food) TIM JEANES: As meals are prepared in Hobart's Sirens Restaurant in Hobart a sign on the blackboard menu indicates King Island produce is no longer on the menu. Manager Charlotte Boss-Walker says it's an ethical stance triggered by King Island famers' use of the poison 1080 to kill local wallabies. CHARLOTTE BOSS-WALKER: We just thought these are practices that people associate with sort of the 1950s attitude to farming, so we decided that we don't need to use those products if they're going to be using those bad poisons like 1080. TIM JEANES: Animal welfare groups are now planning a series of protests over the issue on the mainland. Those such as Yvette Watt from Against Animal Cruelty Tasmania say the use of 1080 to kill native animals is a national disgrace. YVETTE WATT: It's a long, protracted, very painful death. We've got clear evidence of animals taking hours and hours to die in convulsions and writhing in pain. TIM JEANES: But King Island farmers such as Hayden Bostock say the wallabies are so out of control, they'll eventually end up stripping the island bare and starving. HAYDEN BOSTOCK: Fair dinkum, it's bloody serious and quite frankly we've all had a gutful. They're just absolutely in plague proportions, it's just not funny at all. TIM JEANES: What would you say then to the animal liberationists who say we shouldn't be killing them? HAYDEN BOSTOCK: All right, no more culling of the wallabies, the wallabies will just close this island down as far as beef production goes, and there'll be 1,600 families here, 1,600 people that won't have an occupation. Now, are they going to feed them, provide for them, pay for them? I don't think so. TIM JEANES: One solution being proposed is that the wallabies be harvested and their meat sold overseas. Beef farmer, David Robertson, says it's a practical solution to a difficult problem, with the wallabies providing a gourmet meat. DAVID ROBERTSON: Outstanding meat, it's high quality, I mean they're grazing on improved pastures all the time, it's somewhere between beef and lamb. I mean, it's that sort of quality. It's a slight gamey flavour, but it's tender and relatively lean. TIM JEANES: The State Government is helping with the export proposal, with wildlife management officer, Greg Hocking, saying the new industry could ensure animal welfare concerns are met. GREG HOCKING: We are addressing a range of concerns that include animal welfare concerns and include sustainability issues. These animals if they're going to be taken under these plans will be taken humanely and they will be taken in a way that doesn't threaten the populations of wallabies. TIM JEANES: But that doesn't wash with the Wildlife Protection Association of Australia, which says it's planning legal action on the issue. President Pat O'Brien says killing the wallabies for export would breach Federal environment laws. PAT O'BRIEN: This is a pretty horrific proposal. There's a whole suite of issues that haven't been addressed in the proposal and we'll certainly be taking it to court. TIM JEANES: But the farmers would argue that they're so out of control now the wallabies are going to end up killing themselves anyway. PAT O'BRIEN: Yeah, but farmers argue about anything, you know? The reality is all they have got to do is put fences up. Farmers will argue about anything. They'll argue about the weather, the banks, they'll blame anybody they can for problems they've caused themselves. ELEANOR HALL: That's the President of Australia's Wildlife Protection Society, Pat O'Brien, ending that report from Tim Jeanes. *ABC ********************************************
New management plan for problem roos: The Department of Conservation and Land Management (CALM) says a management plan is under way for a species of kangaroo that has been causing problems in parts of the Wheatbelt in Western Australia's mid-west. A local kangaroo shooter says there is no commercial management plan in place for euros and professional shooters do not want to cull them and leave them to rot. CALM's Peter Mawson says it has always been difficult to sell euros because they are smaller and it is difficult work for abattoirs. But he says a new euro management plan is being developed. "That'll get before the Kangaroo Management Advisory Committee when it meets next month, that will go to the Commonwealth department to [be] put before the Minister and we'll also submit an application requesting a commercial quota," he said.* ******************************************** Mass sterilisation of Kangaroos commences Delfin Lend Lease has commenced its mass sterilisation of the ADI Sites Kangaroos. The Sydney media has picked up on this with ABC Radio 702 and Channel 10 giving good coverage. ADI RAG has concerns about the humane treatment of the Kangaroos. We are led to believe that Delfin Lend Lease is having major problems with its implementation of this program and that many roos are being injured or killed and Joeys are being abandoned because of their mistakes. Sterilisation of this many Kangaroos has never been attempted in Australia before. We have called on the NSW Environment Minister, Bob Debus, to stop Delfin Lend Lease from continuing with its program until an independent animal welfare organisation is found to oversee their entire process. It is unethical for the developer - who really is only concerned about minimising costs. http://www.adisite.org/Contact_the_Politicians.html ******************************************** Environmentalists have criticised a plan to herd and sterilise thousands of kangaroos on a former defence force site in western Sydney. Developer Delfin Lend Lease is creating a 5,000 block residential subdivision on the former Australian Defence Industries' (ADI) site at St Marys and has State Government approval to reduce the kangaroo population. The ADI residents' action group has questioned whether the sterilisation program can be carried out humanely. The kangaroos are being herded into an enclosure where they are temporarily tranquillised and injected. Project director Arthur Ilias says government guidelines are being followed. "They are passively herded by people walking behind the kangaroos and walking towards the enclosure...so obviously if there's any stress on the animals people can make decisions about not putting additional stress on the animals," he said. "It's a contraceptive and it slows them down. It actually stops them breeding for what we think is about 18 to 24 months." It is the first stage in the program - the next stage will involve the surgical sterilisation of the animals. * Media report ******************************************** The kangaroo industry wants more Australians eating roo meat and will target promotion towards the diet industry and smallgoods, including salami. The targeted marketing is part of a five-year plan released today to boost the industry's annual earnings of $230 million. John Kelly from the Kangaroo Industries Association says drought is limiting supply and the industry needs to capture more lucrative markets. "Stock supply is quite tight, which is unfortunate because the industry is in a position of extraordinary demand for the product, especially our manufacturing meat which is facing unlimited demand, almost, at the moment," Mr Kelly said. "But in terms of markets, the industry is in one of the most bullish situations it's been for quite a few years." *ABC ******************************************** For those who like to read fiction, the latest edition of the kangaroo Industry newsletter is now available at http://www.kangaroo-industry.asn.au/news/news_frame.htm I managed to get a mention in it, but one interesting comment made in the newsletter was that the Industry “needs to look at feeding kangaroos to keep up the supply”. Does that mean they are admitting the kangaroo populations are low? It seems to me that the whole newsletter is a beat up for their own members, to keep them encouraged, and to justify their membership fees. The KIA newsletter’s claims that kangaroo meat is a ”bullish” market don’t stack up. They are not shooting the quotas because the markets are not there, or the kangaroos are not there. Claims that they will shoot a quota in NSW this year may mean that they are sending kangaroo meat interstate to service those states that cant find enough kangas to shoot. This year they have also opened a vast new shooting area in Southern NSW that has never been commercially shot before. They export to a few third world countries because the meat is cheap protein, and a few Aussie restaurants sell a bit of it. In reality it’s a dead Industry, and it appears that the KIA are just trying to drum it up, to justify the money they get from the Federal government to promote it. *WPAA ******************************************** Also on the kangaroo issue, many of our readers wrote or emailed the Kingfisher Bay Resort on Fraser Island about serving and promoting kangaroo, emu and crocodile meat on their menu. Well, again we have won another victory. Everyone who sent them an email, can give themselves little pat on the back. They are no longer serving wildlife meat! Australia Zoo had a hand in this as well. Kingfisher Bay wanted to be involved in some promotional campaigns with Australia Zoo. When they were advised that the Zoo has a policy of not becoming involved with any facility that sold wildlife products, that was another reason to remove the meat from their kitchens. Anyway, we won, and every little victory counts. It’s especially important with Kingfisher Bay Resort because they get so many overseas tourists there. Another issue arising from this is that we need to look at the Institutions that are training chefs. We have been told that the kangaroo Industry sometimes donates meat to these teaching Institutions, so they will teach chefs how to cook it. Perhaps we need to focus on raising awareness of the health risks of eating kangaroo meat to these places. I’m sure that no chef would want to risk having a salmonella outbreak from his or her kitchen. * ******************************************** Kangamail 15/8/05
If you order kangaroo steak at the Comet Inn, the publican has just one request - make sure the resident roo is out of earshot. Boomer doesn't mind sharing his bar, but Kathy Noble thinks it's best the family pet doesn't know patrons are dining on his relatives. "His mother was road kill and we adopted him, alongside our sheep and miniature horse," Mrs Noble said. "We have a lot of international guests who chopper in and they just love him. My husband Greg likes a beer but Boomer always tries to drink his, so we fill a thimble full and away he goes." With kangaroo on the bush tucker menu at the Hartley Vale inn, west of Sydney, charmed clients have been known to cover Boomer's ears when ordering. Boomer has fans across the globe via his own website. "An Asian girl stayed with us and took a lot of photos and then set up a website. The American guests always want to take him home," Mrs Noble said. "At first we were worried about Boomer being in the bar upsetting authorities but the guests just demand he stays and really love him, as do we. "And they do say the customer is always right." The Comet and other classic pubs are featured in "Counter Meal: Recipes and stories from great Australian pubs" which was launched, appropriately at a pub, yesterday. Author David Carr and photographer Ned Meldrum trawled the country for the best pub counter meals on offer and found a rich and evolving tradition thriving. "It was like Easy Rider searching for that lost Australia. With friendlier locals and a happier ending of course," Meldrum said. "These pubs had atmosphere that was unmistakeable as soon as you walked in. "Great, unpretentious food, good beer and people who said G'day the minute the door shuts behind you." * NetworkItem, media source unknown. ******************************************** There has been a significant mortality event with red kangaroos in the Canarven area in West Australia. Its believed a minimum of 3000 animals have died from a population of 10,000. The Wildlife Health Organisation will have a report on its web site soon at http://www.wildlifehealth.org.au/AWHN/home.aspx I have the report if anyone wants it now, please email me and I can send it. ******************************************** Kangaroo Sausages Russians are among the world's greatest lovers of kangaroos - particularly in sausages. Russia is the biggest export market for the meat and offal of Australia's beloved national symbol, spending $11 million on the gamey flesh in 2004, according to trade department economist Tim Harcourt said. "Australia can't produce enough kangaroo meat,'' Russian importer Igor Dorokhov told Australian Associated Press. "We need 100 containers per month; Australia can only produce 25,'' he added. Dorokhov, who runs I.D. Game Meats, said kangaroo was becoming popular as a cheap, red sausage meat among the eight million residents of Russia's remote far east. Gregory Klumov, a Moscow-based Australian trade official, said the scarcity of protein in the east was one explanation for the marsupial's popularity in the region. "Their threshold for 'Oh, I'm not going to eat kangaroo; they're such fluffy and nice animals,' I guess, is much lower because there is not much choice,'' Klumov said. *Star-Tribune Australia's best customer for its exported kangaroo meat is Russia, Novosti reported Wednesday. The nation consumes a third of Australia's kangaroo meat exports, at a total expense of some $11 million last year. Part of the reason that Russian sausage makers have turned to kangaroo meat is that it is not subject to quotas. The nation's pig and cattle populations are diminishing. Most Russians who eat kangaroo sausage are not aware of its contents, the news organization said. *Russian Media * ******************************************** This story appeared on many media reports around the world. There is market for kangaroo meat in protein poor countries, and if they don’t know what they eating, they will buy it. It’s sold very cheaply overseas because it is a “free goods”. No one has to buy land, stock it with breeders, or do anything that costs much money except buy a truck and a rifle. The government even finances the Industry. Many small goods and sausages are not properly cooked, they go through a “controlled” fermentation process. The risk of contracting salmonella or a similar dangerous disease is significantly enhanced as kangaroo meat is killed in a paddock at night, and is not properly inspected. Several years ago, two children in South Australia died after eating infected salami manufactured at a local small goods factory. An assumption was expressed in media at the time that kangaroo meat may have been used in the salami. * ******************************************** Kangaroo cull protester convicted July 26, 2005 A CANBERRA woman who tried to stop the controversial cull of kangaroos at the city's main dam has been convicted of trespassing. Wilma Davidson, a 57-year-old massage therapist, walked on to part of the reserve around Googong dam, just outside the ACT boundary, in July last year in an attempt to stop the cull. She pleaded not guilty to one count of trespassing on Commonwealth land but was convicted in Queanbeyan Local Court today. Ms Davidson claimed she had a reasonable excuse to be on the land - trying to stop the cruel and unnecessary slaughter of 800 eastern grey kangaroos the ACT Government said were starving. But Magistrate Paula Russell said Ms Davidson had not proved she had a reasonable excuse for being on the reserve. Ms Davidson and other protesters tried to prevent the shooting by keeping rangers and police unsure of their whereabouts. "The defendant's actions involved the real prospect of someone being shot," Ms Russell said. Ms Davidson, who did not attend today's hearing, faces a fine of up to $1000 and the matter will return to Queanbeyan Local Court on August 16. Outside the court, Ms Davidson's lawyer, Jennifer Saunders, said her client's defence was based on her claim that the cull was unnecessary. "The basis of Wilma's reasonable excuse was that they were doing this under a false premise, that people thought this was being done because animals were starving, which gave it a look of being perhaps a bit kind when in fact that wasn't true," she said. "It was being done because land owners in the area thought that damage was being done to their properties." Ms Saunders said her client could not be in court today because she was attending a "silent" retreat in the NSW Blue Mountains. The high-profile protests against the kangaroo cull at Googong drew international attention. The territory Government maintained the cull was necessary to protect water quality at the dam after an invasion of the kangaroos during the prolonged drought. * AAP Daily telegraph ******************************************** Letters to the Editor, Canberra Times In reality it would not have made any difference as to whether Wilma was 50m in from the boundary or 50m on the other side of the boundary. Bullets from the high-powered rifles used can travel 2kms plus. This argument is rubbish. Jon Stanhope is also required, by law, to put evidence of contamination in the public domain immediately as per the ACT Health Act - Drinking water guidelines and to immediately notify the Minister for Health. He did not do this before calling in law enforcement to stop the protestors probably because of the fact that there was no evidence of water contamination and certainly no risk of contamination to Canberras water supply because the water from Googong is fully treated. Ironically, the only evidence of contamination at Googong Dam was a blue-green algae bloom three months earlier and the likely cause of that was pesiticides and fertilizers being washed into the Dam due to the fact the catchment area consists mainly of farmland. And yet the farmers want to blame the kangaroos for water contamination and land degradation. In reality hoofed animals do more damage to the environment than kangaroos as they are soft-footed.Another case of abuse of public office and display or arrogence of those in power. A public official who did not meet his own obligation under law and yet has the audacity to have a protesting citizen arrested. *Skippy ******************************************** Kangaroos beheaded The disturbing discovery of a dozen headless kangaroos at an Australian golf course about 30 kilometers northeast of Melbourne over the past two months is being investigated by police, Ken Waixel, senior inspector for Australia's Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said Wednesday. The RSPCA have interviewed witnesses who have described finding decapitated kangaroos with clean cuts to the neck. With the lack of blood, fur, bone fragments or other material found near the bodies, "it indicates human intervention," Waixel said. (Kyodo News) Ed Comment; This story circulated around the world. We understand that local groups have been monitoring the golf course at night. ******************************************** VIVA! An English animal welfare group is urging tourists to think twice about visiting Australia because it allows the "massacre" of a national icon - the kangaroo. VIVA (Vegetarians International Voice for Animals) says drought is already impacting on kangaroo numbers and it has asked the Australian government to curb killings for commercial purposes. VIVA claimed that in three years the population of the eastern grey kangaroo had dropped by 63 per cent, red kangaroos by 55 per cent and wallaroos by 54 per cent. It said there were now 28 million fewer kangaroos in commercial hunting areas than there was three years ago. The group called for a review of this year's commercial kill target of 3.9 million kangaroos. British holidaymakers were urged to reconsider taking holidays in Australia. "The Australian government and tourism industries cynically use the image of a kangaroo to attract international visitors, whilst butchering millions of them every year out of the view of tourists," VIVA's Justin Kerswell said. "Not only is this dishonest, it's the ultimate betrayal of this much loved icon. "International visitors are being hoodwinked into believing that the Australian government values the kangaroo, little knowing that the only value they place on them is the blood money their meat and skins bring. "We are calling on people thinking of travelling to Australia to consider whether they really want to visit a country that harbours the largest massacre of land animals in the world today." VIVA says its campaigns against kangaroo meat has led to 1,500 supermarkets across Britain no longer stocking the product. "We have essentially killed off the kangaroo meat industry in the UK," Kerswell said. VIVA said the commercial industry's targeting of the largest kangaroos, particularly the males, led to the younger males mating at a very early age. "That means you have a weakening of the gene pool and that runs the risk of extinction," Kerswell said. The group is also waging a campaign against sporting goods manufacturer adidas for its use of kangaroos skins to make football boots, saying the company should "drag itself into the 21st century". ******************************************** Kangamail 26/6/05 Clermont Lions BBQ and Trophy Hunt *Remember the Lions BBQ and sausage sizzle at Clermont recently, where prizes were given for the heaviest kangaroo that had been shot? Well I learnt today that the Queensland Minster Desley Boyle has had 40 letters and emails about this incident! As result, QPWS have been ordered by the Minister to conduct an Inquiry into this event! I’ve also raised it as an Agenda item at next months Kangaroo Management Advisory Committee. Thanks everybody who wrote or emailed the Minister, it just goes to show that our emails and letters do count! Sometimes….. *The other issue I’ve been asked by many people to raise at the KMAC is the matter of shooters handing over joeys to wildlife carers. Is it a breach of the Federal Code of Practice? *I’ve also tabled the newspaper report below this item for discussion at the KMAC, and asking why they haven’t stopped the kangaroo kill. Okay, we can see with the Lions BBQ issue what a few emails and letters can do. If you haven’t yet written a short letter or email to the Federal Government, re the Tassie wallabies, its not too late. The last day for lodging submissions to the King, and Flinders Island, wallaby kill is on Monday. The postal address is; The Director, Sustainable Wildlife Industries,
Department of the Environment and Heritage, GPO Box 787, Canberra ACT 2601,
and the email addy is wsm@deh.gov.au Please get something to them if you can. If you wish to send a copy to the Island Councils (I have) the addresses are below. King Island Council, PO Box 147, Currie, King Island, Tasmania 7256 Ph 03 64621177 email; kicouncil@kingisland.net.au General Manager, Flinders Island Council, PO Box 40, Whitemark, Tasmania 7255 (03) 6359 2211 email; flinderscouncil@trump.net.au ******************************************** Richmond (SA) roo shooters feeling the pinch as drought tightens its grip. It's not just graziers who are struggling to survive the drought, but kangaroo shooters as well, Richmond game meat buyer Valda Crapp said. She said no green grass meant no kangaroos. And that means no money for shooters, she said. In a good season she might handle 800 carcasses a week, but for most of the past few months her numbers have been down to 120 to 200. Some scattered showers a week ago have pushed up some green pick that has drawn kangaroos out on to the plains from the heavily timbered forest country north of the Flinders River. "I've got 500 in the chiller box this week, but that pick will die off and the roos will disappear", she said. She said the kangaroos tended to retreat into the forest country during drought. Hidden in the thousands of square kilometres of scrubby timber where the shooters in their vehicles cannot go, they try to survive on what herbage they can find. The rain draws them out on to the open mitchell and flinders grass plains, but when that new grass dies, so will many of the kangaroos. "They just starve. The crows pick their eyes out and the dingoes take bites out of them while they are still alive. They're too weak to move. Their meat's no good and neither's their hide. All you can do is put them out of their misery," Mrs Crapp said. Her son John came in from a nights shooting at 6:30am Friday. When normally he might have 30 to 40 carcasses hanging from hooks on the back of his vehicle he had only 11. "That's a night's work and we're paying $1.19 a litre for fuel. It's the fuel that's the killer," he said. If there is one thing in favour of shooters at present it is price. On Thursday the price rose from 75c/kg to 80c/kg. Mrs Crapp said the rise was driven by the drought which has made kangaroos a scarce commodity over much of inland Queensland and New South Wales. "The money is pretty good, but the trouble is there's no roos," she said. *SA Advertiser
******************************************* The kangaroo industry, getting serious about its future. (or desperate) from farmline.com Many of Australia's most eminent ecologists now regard the kangaroo industry as a model for how meat should be produced in this land. Senator Colbeck, the Minister responsible for the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, convened a meeting this week of industry members and government representatives to put the final touches to a new Strategic Plan. The Plan will guide kangaroo indsutry R&D for the next five years. The industry in conjunction with the federal government has recently introduced an R&D levy on all kangaroos processed for meat. The levy, to be administered by the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, will be used to fund projects aimed at improving the markets for kangaroo products. The Plan will detail the R&D priorities industry wants addressed under topics such as industry sustainability, regulation, industry image and product marketing. Examples of identified R&D priorities include: * Increasing the use of kangaroo meat in domestic smallgoods manufacture (kangaroo is recognised internationally as one of the best meats available for smallgoods making, yet it's largely ignored by manufacturers within Australia); * targeted promotion to the diet industry as kangaroo is the lowest fat meat available; and * working with the farming industry to eliminate wasteful culling of kangaroos under shoot and let lie permits and maximising harvesting by accreditored harvesters. The Plan will be finalised for release in September. About three million kangaroos are harvested every year under Management Plans strictly controlled by state and federal governments. Each state government conducts an annual survey of their kangaroo population and sets a quota of animals which can be sustainably harvested. The kangaroos then processed in government controlled abattoirs to produce a wide range of meat and leather products. Kangaroo meat is exported to more than 50 countries world wide, while kangaroo leather is considered the best leather for production of first-class sporting shoes. The kangaroo industry employs more than 4000 people and is worth $230 million per year. * http://fw.farmonline.com.au/news_daily.asp...d=27212&s=27363
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