An open letter to lawmakers, decision-makers and the public about the shooting of kangaroos

Signed by concerned scientists, academics and other professional practitioners in the critical analysis of information and data.

We, the undersigned, urge lawmakers, decision-makers and the public to consider the conservation, animal welfare and human health risks caused by the commercial and non-commercial shooting of kangaroos.
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We are concerned that claims of health, sustainability and humaneness used to promote continuation and expansion of shooting kangaroos are industry-biased and can be scientifically disproven.

We believe that scientific evidence demonstrates that the slaughter of kangaroos, the largest commercial killing of land-based wildlife on the planet, is putting at high risk kangaroo populations and people’s health, and causes profound suffering to kangaroos and their young.

Specific areas of concern include:

Sustainability

• ​Loss of habitat, urban development, agricultural practices and continuing industrial-scale slaughter eliminate kangaroos across vast regions where historical records described them as once widespread and abundant.

• Kangaroos grow and breed slowly and have high juvenile mortality. For example, a Grey Kangaroo doe can produce up to 8 independent joeys in her lifetime,[1],[2] with just two likely to survive to independence.[3]

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• Maximum wild population growth rates average ~10% in optimal conditions, [4] with annual declines of up to, and over, 60% during drought recorded.[5],[6],[7] It is biologically impossible for kangaroo populations to increase rapidly.

 

• Shooting quotas of 15-20% or more[8] of population estimates exceed actual kangaroo population growth rates.

 

• Analysis shows critically flawed kangaroo survey methodologies systematically inflate population estimates from which commercial shooting quotas are then over-allocated.[9]

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• Consideration of commercial shooting impacts on kangaroo populations has never included millions of kangaroos additionally shot by landowners and illegal shooting. Other major mortality factors are also ignored.

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• Government survey data and commercial shooting statistics illustrate declining populations and landscapes now significantly depleted of kangaroos.[10]

Cruelty

• Shooting occurs away from any scrutiny and in darkness when nonlethal shots are inevitable, often causing horrific injuries. Evidence suggests 4-40%[11],[12]  commercially shot animals are not shot directly in the brain but in the neck or body. This equates to between 65,284-652,839 animals mis-shot in 2015.[13] Unknown further numbers of mis-shot kangaroos are left to die in the field by commercial and non-commercial shooters.

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• The national Code of Practice requires shooters to shoot at-foot joeys, and decapitate or “crush the skull and destroy the brain”[14] of pouch young.

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• Research confirms most dependent at-foot joeys are left in the field[15] to suffer exposure, starvation, or predation, and that pouch joeys’ heads are generally swung against vehicles to kill them.

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• Joeys killed or left to die are not recorded. Around 8 million dependent joeys are estimated to have died due to commercial shooting in the period 2000-2009.[16] Over 110,000 joeys died from commercial shooting alone in 2015 based on reported figures.[17]

Contamination

• 75% of emerging human pathogens originate in wildlife.[18] Kangaroo is a wild bush meat sold in supermarkets and restaurants. It is not tested[19] for the many human-harming pathogens it harbours.[20]

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• Wild kangaroos are shot and butchered in the field without supervision. They are transported on unrefrigerated open trucks exposed to dust and flies and frequently high ambient temperatures.

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• There have been repeated findings of contaminated kangaroo meat over many years.[21] In 2014 Russia banned kangaroo meat imports for a third time due to pathogenic contamination.[22],[23] Acetic acid is routinely used to cleanse the meat of systemic contamination.[24],[25]

References

1. Dawson,T (2012) Kangaroos: Biology of the Largest Marsupials Cornell University Press. Ithaca, US. *Based on Table 6.1
2. Bilton, A & Croft, D (2004) Lifetime Reproductive Success in a Population of Female Red Kangaroos Macropus Rufus in the Sheep Rangelands of Western New South Wales: Environmental Effects and Population Dynamics Australian Mammalogy 26: 45-60
3. Arnold GW et al (1991) Population ecology of western grey kangaroos in a remnant of Wandoo Woodland at Bakers Hill, southern Western Australia Wildlife Research 18(5) 561-575, CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne
4. Mjadwesch (2011) Nomination to List the Large Macropods as Threatened Species under the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995  MESS  Bathurst. Based on Arnold et al's grey kangaroo population growth rates which, when calculated, equate to x7.86% pa over 4 years, and then x8.47% pa over a subsequent 6 years. Red Kangaroos are slightly higher. Read more at www.kangaroosatrisk.net 
5. Robertson G (1986) The Mortality of Kangaroos in Drought Australian Wildlife Research 13(3) 349 – 354
6. Newsome AE, Stephens DR, Shipway AK (1967) Effect of a long drought on the abundance of Red Kangaroos in central Australia CSIRO Wildlife Rescue 12: 1-8
7. Caughley, G , Grigg, GG, Smith L. (1985). The effect of drought on kangaroo populations. Journal of Wildlife Management 49: 679-685
8. State Kangaroo Management Plans: http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/wildlife-trade/trading/commercial/management-plans. 
9. Mjadwesch, R (2013a) Letter to NSW Scientific Committee, Revisiting the criteria for listing as threatened - Supplementary submission 2 to 2011 Nomination to LIst the Large Macropods as Threatened Species under the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995, MESS Bathurst. Available at  https://www.kangaroosatrisk.net/2nd-supplementary-submission
   Note: includes Mjadwesch's analysis of Cairns, S et al A report to the New South Wales Department of Environment and Climate Change on the consultancy: ‘Kangaroo Monitoring: Hunter and Central Tablelands Commercial Harvest Zones Design and Analysis of Helicopter Survey (2009); and Cairns S & Bearup D A report to the NSW OEH on the consultancy: Design and analysis of helicopter Surveys of kangaroo populations in the Central tablelands North & South management zones (2012); See also transect locations in other Australian states (Mjadwesch in prep).
10. Mjadwesch, R (2013b) Letter to the NSW Scientific Committee, Review of western NSW survey data and methodology - Supplementary submission 3 to 2011 Nomination to LIst the Large Macropods as Threatened Species under the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995, MESS Bathurst. Available at https://www.kangaroosatrisk.net/3rd-supplementary-submission
11. RSPCA Australia (2002) A Survey of the Extent of Compliance with the Requirements of the Code of Practice for the Humane Shooting of Kangaroos http://www.environment.gov.au/node/16659
12. Ben‐Ami, D et al The welfare ethics of the commercial killing of free-ranging kangaroos: an evaluation of the benefits and costs of the industry (2014). http://bit.ly/2z03uIc Explanation of methodologies: http://bit.ly/2ByJ4e
13. Australian Government Kangaroo and wallaby population, quota and harvest statistics 2015 (2016 not available) http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/wildlife-trade/natives/wild-harvest
14. Australian Government National Code of Practice for the Humane Shooting of Kangaroos and Wallabies for Commercial Purposes [and for Non-Commercial Purposes] http://bit.ly/1zEeFT2
15. McLeod, S and Sharp, T Improving the humaneness of commercial kangaroo harvesting 2014 Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation http://www.agrifutures.com.au/wp-content/uploads/publications/13-116.pdf
16. Ben-Ami et al op cit
17. Australian Government Department of the Environment and Energy, Population, quota and harvest statistics, 2015. http://bit.ly/2kYGkNk Joeys calculated using standard constants for fecundity (Dawson 2012) and survivorship (Arnold (1991), Banks (2002))
18. Taylor, LH et al Risk factors for human disease emergence Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society Lon B 2001 356 983-989 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/11829994_Risk_Factors_for_Human_Disease_Emergence
19. Community Affairs Senate Committee, Population Health, QoN196 (Senator Rhiannon), Supplementary Budget Estimates 2012-13, 20 Nov 2012, Australian Senate http://bit.ly/2ACunD8
20. Ladds, P Pathology of Macropods [ from Pathology of Australian Native Wildlife (Ladds 2009)] Australian Registry of Wildllife Health, Taronga Conservation Society Australia http://bit.ly/2BIXRDX
21. Rural, Regional Affairs & Transport Legislation Senate Committee, Department of Agriculture, Exports Division, Q104 (Senator Lee Rhiannon), Supplementary Budget Estimates May 2017, Australian Senate. http://bit.ly/KangaroosAtRisk_EUContamination2013-15
22. Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitory Surveillance news (25 July 2013) The Rosselkhoznadzor Detained a Kangaroo Meat Consignment of a Questionable Quality http://www.fsvps.ru/fsvps/news/7137.html?_language=en
23. Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Committee, Dept of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Exports Division, Q60 (Senator Rhiannon), Additional Budget Estimates Feb 2015, Australian Senate. Link
24. Macro Investments (Macro Meats) Letter to shooters (19 May 2012). Link
25. Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Committee, Dept of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Food Division, Q232 (Senator Heffernan), Supplementary Budget Estimates Oct 2012, Australian Senate. Link 

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Signatories

Note: Academic titles reflect the ranking system of the country of origin, where applicable. 

Dr Alka Arora 
Core Faculty
California Institute of Integral Studies

Dr Meera Atkinson
University of Technology
Sydney, Australia

Dr Rosemary Austen MBBS
Scientist, General Practitioner, wildlife behaviourist & rehabilitator
Canberra, Australia

Dr Liv Baker
Animal Studies Teaching Fellow
College of the Environment
Wesleyan University, Connecticut

Dr Jonathan Balcombe
Biologist, author
Director of Animal Sentience, Humane Society Institute for Science & Policy 
Washington DC

(Former) Senator Andrew Bartlett
Australian Democrats Senator for Queensland (1997-2008)
Australian Greens Senator for Queensland (2017-2018)
Australian Senate

Dr Johannes Bauer
Technical Advisor – UN Food & Agriculture Organization
Former Scientific/Policy Advisor in wildlife management to EU & UN
Bathurst NSW

Dr Marc Bekoff
University of Colorado, Boulder

Dr Dror Ben-Ami
Lead Researcher Ecology & Research Associate 
Centre for Compassionate Conservation
University of Technology Sydney, Australia

Scott Bevins
BSc Conservation Biology (Hons)
Ecologist, Blue Mountains, NSW

Dr Jeffrey G Borchers
Ecologist, LPC
The Kerulos Center, Oregon

Dr Louise Boronyak-Vasco
Senior Research Consultant, Institute for Sustainable Futures
University of Technology Sydney, Australia

Dr Melissa Boyde
Editor, Animal Studies Journal

G.A. Bradshaw PhD, PhD
CEO
The Kerulos Center, Oregon   

Dr Rachael Briggs
Philosopher 
Stanford University

Associate Professor David Brooks
Author, Editor
University of Sydney, Australia 

Dr Hedy Bryant
Grad.Dip AppSci (Agric); MA Environmental Management; PhD
Charles Sturt University, Australia

Professor Deborah Cao 
Griffith University
Australia 

JM Coetzee
Author, Nobel Prize Laureate

Claire Colebrook
Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Literature
Pennsylvania State University

Professor Carole Cusack
University of Sydney, Australia

Dr Robert Darling   
Professor of English, Division of Humanities & Fine Arts
Keuka College, New York

Dr Margo DeMello 
Animals & Society Institute, USA

Nicola Donovan
President
Lawyers for Animals Inc, Australia

Dr Sara Dubois 
Chief Scientific Officer
BC Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Canada

Dr Rosemary Elliott
President, Sentient
The Veterinary Institute for Animal Ethics, Australia 

Dr Mehreen Faruqi
Greens Member of the Legislative Council, Parliament of NSW (2013-2018)
Greens Senator for NSW, Australian Senate (2018-current)

​Professor Steve Garlick PhD, MCom
Economist, Applied Ethicist, wildlife behaviourist & rehabilitator 
Centre for Compassionate Conservation, University of Technology Sydney 
Founder & President of the Animal Justice Party of Australia

Dr Carol Gigliotti
Emily Carr University
Canada

Dr Jason Grossman
Philosopher of Science
Australia 

Associate Professor Eleonora Gullone
School of Psychological Sciences 
Monash University, Australia 

Dr John Hadley
Snr Lecturer in Philosophy
School of Humanities & Communication Arts
Western Sydney University, Australia

Kevin Hart FAHA
Edwin B Kyle Professor of Christian Studies 
University of Virginia

Dr Andrea Harvey
BVSc DSAM (Feline) DipECVIM-CA MRCVS
RCVS Recognised Specialist in Feline Medicine
European Veterinary Specialist in Internal Medicine
Australia

Ruth Hatten  
Senior Policy Officer, The Animal Law Institute
Member, Voiceless Legal Advisory Council
Associate Academic, Centre for Compassionate Conservation, University of Technology Sydney

Dr Thomas Hikade
Hon Associate, University of Sydney
Australia

Associate Professor Jay Johnston
Department of Studies in Religion
University of Sydney, Australia

Dr Lisa Kemmerer
Professor of Philosophy and Religions
Montana State University Billings

Professor Anne Keogh AM
Senior Heart Transplant Cardiologist
Heart Transplant Unit, St Vincent’s Hospital
Sydney Australia

John Kinsella
Author, Fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge, 
Adjunct Professor, University of Western Australia

Dr Kate Livett
Independent scholar and editor
Australia

Dr Dan Lyons
CEO, Centre for Animals and Social Justice
Honorary Research Fellow, Department of Politics
University of Sheffield UK

Virginia McKenna OBE
Founder Trustee
Born Free Foundation

Associate Professor Elizabeth McMahon 
Head, Dept of English, School of the Arts and Media
University of New South Wales, Australia

Christine Mason
Poet (as Cally Conan-Davies)
Manitou Springs, Colorado 

Dr David Mason
Former Poet Laureate of Colorado
Professor and Chair 
Department of English, The Colorado College

Dr Jeffrey Masson
Author

Professor Freya Mathews
Philosophy, School of Humanities & Social Sciences
College of Arts, Social Sciences & Commerce
La Trobe University, Australia 

Dr Brian May CBE
Save Me Trust

Raymond Mjadwesch
BAppSci (Env)
Consulting Ecologist/Conservation Biologist
Bathurst, Australia

Dr Alison Moore
University of Wollongong, Australia

Dr Lynn Mowson
Human Rights and Animal Ethics Research Network 
University of Melbourne, Australia

Prof Jenny Onyx
School of Management & Co-Director
Cosmopolitan Civil Societies
University of Technology Sydney, Australia

Glenys Oogjes  
Executive Director
Animals Australia  

The Hon. Mark Pearson
Animal Justice Party Member of the Legislative Council 
NSW Parliament (2015-2023), Australia

Associate Professor Frances Press
Associate Dean Research, Faculty of Arts & Education
Charles Sturt University (2005-2019), Australia

Dr Fiona Probyn-Rapsey
University of Sydney, Australia

Dr Daniel Ramp
Director, Centre for Compassionate Conservation
University of Technology Sydney, Australia

(Former) Senator Lee Rhiannon
BSci - Zoology/Botany (Hons)
Member Legislative Council, NSW Parliament (1999-2010)
Australian Greens Senator for NSW, Parliament of Australia (2011-2018)

Professor Catherine Rigby FAHA 
Chair of Environmental Humanities
School of Languages, Literatures, Cultures & Linguistics
Monash University, Australia

Dr Sophie Riley
Senior Lecturer, Law
University of Technology Sydney, Australia

Dr Jane Roy
Communicator and Editor
Formerly University of British Columbia
Simon Fraser University, British Columbia

Dr Tracy Ryan
Independent scholar and author
Australia

Dr Nick Scott
Veterinarian
Bathurst, NSW Australia

Dr Kenneth Shapiro 
Editor, Society and Animals

Brian Sherman AM Hon Litt D (UTS)  
Businessman, philanthropist
Managing Director, Voiceless, the animal protection institute

Ondine Sherman
Author
Managing Director, Voiceless - the animal protection institute

Peter Singer, AC
Ira W.DeCamp Professor of Bioethics
University Center for Human Values, Princeton University

Dr Tony Smith
Independent scholar 
Bathurst NSW Australia

Dr Tracy Sorensen
School of Information Studies & Communication
Charles Sturt University, Australia

Dr Maria Taylor 
Science Communications, Australia National University
Author,  NSW Australia

Associate Professor  Nik Taylor 
School of Social and Policy Studies
Flinders University, Australia

Dr William C Taylor
Associate Professor Genetics UC Berkeley
CSIRO Senior Principle Plant Scientist, retired
NSW Australia

Professor Helen Tiffin 
Visiting Professorial Fellow
University of Wollongong, Australia

Dr Christine Townend 
Author, Australia

Dr Margaret van Heekeren
Snr Lecturer - Journalism
School of Communication & Creative Industries
Charles Sturt University (2004-2016), Australia

Associate Professor Dinesh Joseph Wadiwel 
Socio-Legal Studies & Human Rights 
School of Social and Political Sciences 
University of Sydney, Australia

Brenda Walker 
Writer, Winthrop Professor of English & Cultural Studies 
University of Western Australia

Dr Arian Wallach
Eureka Prize Winner and Churchill Fellow
Centre for Compassionate Conservation
University of Technology Sydney

Dr Yvette Watt
University of Tasmania
Co-Director UTAS Environment Research Group
Committee member, Minding Animals Australia 

Dr Mark Westman BVSc (Hons), MANZCVSc (Animal Welfare)
PhD Scholar, Veterinarian
Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney

Dr Richard J White
Senior Lecturer in Human Geography 
Sheffield Hallam University, UK

Professor Stuart White
Director, Institute for Sustainable Futures
University of Technology Sydney, Australia

Dr Diedre Wicks
Author, sociologist
Hon. Research Associate
Newcastle University, Australia

Dr Cynthia Willett
Professor, Philosophy Department
Emory University, Atlanta 

Banner image: Mariel Becker
Young Eastern Grey Kangaroo: Macropus giganteus