Tell NSW Gov: Stop the kangaroo slaughter.

As the sun sets each evening across Australia, kangaroos emerge in close family units to graze, socialise and bond, as they’ve done across their homeland for millions of years. But the onset of darkness brings with it the danger of being brutally killed or injured or left to die slow, painful deaths, all at the hands of the kangaroo shooting industry.

Kangaroos hold cultural and spiritual significance for First Nations people and are treasured by people in Australia and the world over, with few aware that these unique, sensitive animals have been hunted and killed in New South Wales (NSW) for over 45 years for commercial industry profit.

Although it is considered an offence to kill or hurt these “protected” native animals in NSW, the federal and state governments allow this protection to be stripped away under a commercial shooting licence, or a permit that is astonishingly called a ‘licence to harm’ which can be handed out over the phone to land managers who want to shoot wildlife.

This ‘harm’ – as indicated by the name – is far from humane. Kangaroos are shot, and some flee only to succumb to their injuries slowly. At the hands of shooters, joeys are cruelly, but legally, decapitated or bludgeoned to death, or escape only to die without the protection of their mother.

Why are kangaroos being killed?

While this iconic native species is beloved by people the world over, decision-makers in Australia continue to abandon them to extreme cruelty for the sake of profit.

Every time a kangaroo product is sold – whether it be dog treats and ‘pet food’, meat sold in restaurants and supermarkets, and skins used to make bags, shoes and other ‘leather’ products – it supports an industry that sees kangaroos as nothing more than dollar signs.

In support of this profit-driven industry, the Australian Federal Government allows the commercial slaughter of millions of kangaroos each year. Perhaps even more shocking is that the government continues to do so even after the devastating 2019-20 summer fires and more recent flooding which devastated wildlife habitats across much of the country.

The NSW Government is allowing even more kangaroos to suffer

This year, the NSW Government alone has given permission for almost two million kangaroos (1,850,228) to be killed and sold in the commercial industry.^[1] This ‘quota’ is even higher than 2022’s quota of 1,692,207 kangaroos – each one a sensitive, social individual.

This staggering number of 1.8M does not include joeys – the ‘invisible’ victims of this industry who, after their mothers have been shot, are legally decapitated or bludgeoned to death.

On top of this already horrific situation, no government or industry body is tracking how many kangaroos and joeys are harmed by shooters but manage to escape being killed quickly. It has been estimated that as many as 440,000 dependent young kangaroos in NSW and Queensland alone are either clubbed to death every year, or left to starve after their mothers are killed.

Devastatingly, these staggering numbers of kangaroo lives taken are just from the commercial industry…

Kangaroos are also at risk due to non-commercial ‘licences to harm‘

‘License to harm’ permits are NSW Government-issued licences to kill native kangaroos. In 2022, land managers in NSW were given these ‘licences’ to kill over 90,000 kangaroos.^[2]

In an already flawed licence system that relied on self-regulation and self-reporting from licence holders, a recent change has allowed these killing permits to be issued over the phone (to previous or current holders). Lacking official oversight, the number of kangaroos killed could potentially be much higher.

NSW Government Inquiry largely ignored

Each year, the NSW Government decides how many kangaroos can be killed under the auspice of ‘kangaroo management’. The methodology used to count kangaroos and develop this ‘management plan’ came under fire during a 2021 parliamentary inquiry, with academics and ecologists questioning the validity of the data, and even suggesting that numbers are highly inflated.

During the Parliamentary Inquiry into the Health and wellbeing of kangaroos and other macropods in New South Wales, Honorary Associate Professor David Brooks suggested that “government estimations of NSW kangaroo populations are ‘inherently and systematically inflated’ and need to be ‘meticulously and independently interrogated’ to investigate whether the real population is lower and more fragile than official estimates suggest.”^[3]

The NSW parliamentary inquiry found gross inadequacies and a lack of transparency around ways that annual killing quotas are determined by the government, highlighting the potential for large-scale misrepresentation of kangaroo numbers. Currently, there is no reliable data on how many kangaroos there are, yet in the last few decades they are being killed at a rate that is unprecedented in the millions of years this species has lived in sync with this continent.

The lack of effective oversight and monitoring of shooters in the field was also brought to light, exposing the cruel and disrespectful treatment of young kangaroo joeys who are routinely killed as ‘ collateral damage’ to the shooting industry.^[4]

Following the inquiry, a government report released recommendations to address many of the well-hidden cruel routine practices, but to date, the majority of these recommendations have not been adopted by the NSW Government – in fact, only 2 of the 23 recommendations were fully accepted.^[5]

Speak out urgently

Please use the form below to send a personalised, powerful message to your State MP and the NSW Minister for the Environment, calling on them to end both the commercial and non-commercial killing of kangaroos in NSW.

Global pressure is mounting to help the iconic native species and ban the import of products made from kangaroos into the US and the EU. In 2023, bills have been introduced in US states Oregon and Connecticut, and a petition is before the EU Parliament, to take a stand against this international wildlife trade and ban the import and sale of kangaroo ‘meat’ and skins.

This groundswell of compassion is sending a very clear message to both the industry and government alike that the days of killing kangaroos for profit are numbered. It’s time to protect Australian wildlife instead of condoning their slaughter.

REFERENCES:

1. NSW Department of Planning and Environment, NSW Commercial Kangaroo Management Program: 2023 Quota Report, NSW Government, <https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/-/media/OEH/Corporate-Site/Documents/Animals-and-plants/Wildlife-management/Kangaroo-management/commercial-kangaroo-management-program-2023-quota-report-220649.pdf>

2. NSW Department of Planning and Environment, Public register of licences to harm, NSW Government, accessed 14 Feb 2023 <https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/licences-and-permits/wildlife-licences/licences-to-control-or-harm/public-register-of-licences-to-harm>

3. Parliament of NSW Legislative Council, Health and wellbeing of kangaroos and other macropods in New South Wales, Report 11 PC7, Oct 2021, p. 48.

4. Parliament of NSW Legislative Council, Health and wellbeing of kangaroos and other macropods in New South Wales, Report 11 PC7, Oct 2021, p. viii.

5. Parliament NSW, Government Response: Health and wellbeing of kangaroos and other macropods in New South Wales, Planning and Environment PC7, April 2022.