Tell NSW Gov: Stop the kangaroo slaughter.

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Send a personalised message to protect kangaroos and joeys from shooting cruelty in Australia

Under the cover of darkness, kangaroos and their joeys are being brutally hunted down and killed for profit. In your own words, urge the New South Wales Government to stop the slaughter of kangaroos.

Close up of an Eastern grey kangaroo joey with their head and arms poking out of their mother's pouch.

Send a personalised message to protect kangaroos and joeys from shooting cruelty in Australia

Under the cover of darkness, kangaroos and their joeys are being brutally hunted down and killed for profit. In your own words, urge the New South Wales Government to stop the slaughter of kangaroos.

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Thank you for wanting to help kangaroos. This action is for NSW residents only. Please consider emailing the NSW Minister for the Environment, Minister James Griffin, instead here at this address: manly@parliament.nsw.gov.au

The Prime Minister’s email address is no longer monitored, but you can still contact Prime Minister Anthony Albanese here. Thank you for wanting to protect animals from cruelty!

By completing this action, you give permission for Animals Australia to contact you. You can unsubscribe from updates at any time.

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Your representative is:

Minister for the Environment and State MP
Dear Minister and Member of Parliament,
Regards
.

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Animals Australia

Animals Australia team

Last updated February 16, 2023

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.

WATCH NOW: By day, kangaroos are celebrated as a precious, tourist-attracting native animal. By night, they are slaughtered along with their joeys, so that the commercial industry can profit from their body parts and skins.

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.

TAKE ACTION NOW

This image contains content which some may find confronting

A mother kangaroo and joey hug in a grassy field, the joey is looking straight at the camera.
Shooting destroys families: Heartbreaking research has found that joeys who’ve seen their friends and family shot in front of them stop playing.

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.

HELP KANGAROOS NOW

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]

We hear about “plague” numbers of kangaroos all the time – strangely, we only hear it from people who have a financial interest in getting rid of them.
Animal Justice Party NSW

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]

The kangaroo industry lacks transparency, it lacks monitoring and compliance.
Cate Faehrmann, Greens MLC
NSW Kangaroo Inquiry Chair

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.

Speak out now to help protect kangaroos and joeys in New South Wales

 people are helping.
Animals Australia
* Indicates required field.

Thank you for wanting to help kangaroos. This action is for NSW residents only. Please consider emailing the NSW Minister for the Environment, Minister James Griffin, instead here at this address: manly@parliament.nsw.gov.au

The Prime Minister’s email address is no longer monitored, but you can still contact Prime Minister Anthony Albanese here. Thank you for wanting to protect animals from cruelty!

By completing this action, you give permission for Animals Australia to contact you. You can unsubscribe from updates at any time.

Loading...


Your details are safe, refer to our privacy policy

* Indicates required field.

Please add a subject line, and consider editing in your own words. Personalised letters have a greater impact for animals.

Your representative is:

Minister for the Environment and State MP
Dear Minister and Member of Parliament,
Regards
.

Validating...


You’re almost ready to help make a difference!

To maximise the impact of your letter, you should send it from your own email program.

    1. Click "Prepare my email message" below.
    2. You will be redirected to your own email program, where a new email draft will be pre-populated.
    3. You will have the opportunity to edit the email and personalise it to give it more impact if you wish. Otherwise, just press "SEND" through your email program.

That’s it! With those simple steps, you can ensure your voice is heard in the call for valuable, meaningful change. So, what are you waiting for? Let’s call for kindness, now.

You’re ready to take action!

Ready to help us make important, meaningful change? Send your message now and add your voice to the call for kindness.

Processing...


Thank you !

Your letter has been sent along with the other letters.

Processing...


Did your email program open with your pre-populated letter? If so, that’s great! If not, you can copy it below and paste it into your preferred email program to send.
Help us spread the word and encourage others to take action to end animal cruelty by sharing it on social media.

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.