Kangaroo industry

The kangaroo industry is based on the harvesting of the large species of kangaroos, which are abundant and are sustainably harvested in Australia under strict government control. Many professional ecologists support this industry on the basis that it delivers significant environmental benefits. Many argue kangaroos, which are native to Australia, are a more environmentally friendly livestock option than introduced sheep and cattle. The kangaroo industry is based on the harvesting of the large species of kangaroos, which are abundant and are sustainably harvested in Australia under strict government control. Many professional ecologists support this industry on the basis that it delivers significant environmental benefits. Many argue kangaroos, which are native to Australia, are a more environmentally friendly livestock option than introduced sheep and cattle. Kangaroo meat is consumed in Australia and available in some Australian supermarkets. It is also exported to over 55 countries. Kangaroo leather is recognised as the strongest lightweight leather throughout the world and extensively used in first class sporting shoes and gloves. Of the 48 species of macropods (kangaroos) in Australia, only six can be commercially harvested. Over 99% of the commercial kangaroo harvest occurs in the arid grazing rangelands. The populations of kangaroos in these areas are estimated every year in each State by well-developed aerial survey techniques. These are sparsely timbered, savannah-type ecosystems; hence, it is possible to fly over them and count the large animals, such as kangaroos, seen. Using either low-flying fixed-wing aircraft or helicopters, flying at heights of two to 300 meters, the National Parks authorities count the numbers of kangaroos seen over fixed transects. Thirty years of such monitoring have allowed them to develop sophisticated and accurate techniques of extrapolating out to total population numbers. Kangaroos are one of only a very few species (including humans) which have an annual census of their populations. Current populations stand around 45 million. Within the rangelands, kangaroos are now more common than prior to European settlement. This situation has arisen due to the increased food and water supply generated by the activities of the sheep and cattle industry. Prior to European settlement, these areas had very few places of surface water from which kangaroos could drink. The pastoral industry has tapped into below-ground water supplies to the point where now very few points in the rangelands are further than 3 km from a permanent water source and no point is further than 10 km. For any kangaroo species to be harvested, the State's National Parks authority must have a detailed management plan approved by the federal conservation department. These plans must detail the population monitoring and quota-setting controls and the controls over the take, and they must be renewed every five years. Each year after the population estimate is obtained, each management plan will set a maximum allowable take (quota) of between 10 and 20% of total population. The State's authority will then issue individually and sequentially numbered plastic lockable tags. These tags are designed to ensure, once properly applied, any tampering with them will be perfectly obvious. Populations fluctuate seasonally. Some evidence suggests a correlation between droughts and population decline.