Killed by the millions while there is no reliable data
Many people are shocked to learn that the Australian Federal Government allows kangaroos to be killed and turned into sports shoes and ‘pet food’. These native animals are slaughtered for the sake of commercial profit.
Under the guise of a ‘management plan,’ each state government (except the ACT) set kill “quotas” for the commercial industry. The methodology used to count kangaroos and inform this ‘management plan’ recently came under fire for its flaws during a 2021 NSW Parliamentary Inquiry.
In reality, no reliable data exists on kangaroo populations, yet they are being killed at an unprecedented rate. Last year in NSW alone, over 40,000 kangaroos were killed per month.
The NSW and Victorian Government’s “kill quota” for the commercial industry in 2023 is over two million kangaroos – 1,850,228 in NSW and 166,750 in VIC.[1][2] These states have increased the number of kangaroos permitted to be killed from last year without a sound understanding of the impact recent severe floods have had on kangaroo numbers.
If this isn’t awful enough, these staggering numbers do not include joeys, the invisible victims of this industry considered nothing more than ‘collateral damage’ when their mothers are killed.
Change from abroad should be the Aus Gov’s wake-up call
Thankfully, brands like Nike, Puma, and Intersport are realising that this cruel industry is fast losing its social license. After the EU, the US is the second-largest market for the commercial kangaroo shooting industry, so the domino effect happening with US law-makers proposing bills to ban the import of kangaroo products and the commercial sectors making decisions to end their support of the wildlife trade from Australia is heartening.
This should serve as a wake-up call to the Australian Government. At a time when politicians and corporations on the other side of the world are cutting their ties with the commercial kangaroo industry, Australia continues to allow its iconic native animals to be shot by the millions. Instead of carelessly commodifying wildlife, these unique animals must be protected.