Stop Slaughtering Australia's National Emblem
Kangaroos are one of the world's most recognizable and cherished animals. Kangaroos are endemic to the country of Australia. The kangaroo is a national symbol of Australia: its emblem is used on the Australian coat of arms, on its currency, as well as by some of Australia's best known organisations, including Qantas. The kangaroo is important to both Australian culture and the national image and consequently there are numerous popular culture references.
People travel to Australia from all over the globe to view these iconic marsupials. What many don't know is that kangaroos are currently being slaughtered by the millions every year to supply the international trade in kangaroo leather and meat. This mass killing is the largest human massacre of terrestrial wildlife on the planet.
About three million kangaroos are killed commercially in Australia every year, which has led to a population reduction of 50 percent over the past five years. These statistics, however, do not include the joeys (baby kangaroos) who are left to die or are killed when their mothers are killed. It also does not include the number of illegal and non-commercial killings. Adding these numbers into the total greatly increases the scale of this slaughter.
Australia bears the shame of being responsible for the largest commercial wildlife slaughter in the world.
Each night in the Australian outback thousands of kangaroos graze peacefully, stand up on hearing an approaching vehicle, stare into a blinding spotlight, and are shot for their meat and skins. This year, almost 4 million kangaroos are allowed to be killed commercially. The fate of orphaned young is at least as grim. Joeys are decapitated or killed with a blow to the head. If they escape, they often fall victim to predators, exposure or starvation. Australians would never accept this were they to bear witness to this cruelty. This relentless cruelty is authorised by government in the name of profit and landholder pressure.
A new trade protocol between Australia and China now opens the door for the industry to export kangaroo meat and skins to China. But the Chinese are worried about their reputation as they are well aware of the iconic status of Kangaroos. Also, worries exist about food safety issues after Russia announced a total ban on importing Kangaroos meat for this reason.
Due to pressures from the commercial industry, landholders and drought, kangaroo populations have dropped by approximately 60% since 2001 and more in some areas of Australia (according to the Department of Environment and Climate Change's own data). The average age of a red kangaroo shot is now just 2 years when in their natural state these animals can live to 25 years.
The Global Campaign to Stop Animal Sacrifice
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