Kangaroos are a well-loved symbol of Australia, but the persistence of the kangaroo cull shows that they’re not immune to the perils of human beings.
Native to the Australian landscape; uniquely adapted to survive extreme climates; proudly displayed on the country’s coat of arms; emblazoned on the tail of the national airline; and the victims of the largest mass slaughter of land-based wildlife on the planet.
That’s the kangaroo – the lovable, or not so lovable depending on who you ask, big-footed marsupials that hop.
Kangaroos in Australia
Both kangaroos and wallabies are types of macropods, a subclass of large pouch-bearing mammals found mainly in Australia.
Their modern evolutionary record dates back around 25 million years and coincides with the onset of continent-wide aridity.
They’re a species well-suited to times of drought with a remarkable ability to conserve water – producing little urine and dry faeces as well as regulating their body temperature through panting and forearm licking, rather than sweating.
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The kangaroo is a beloved symbol of Australia, but in reality they're treatment is anything but reverent. Photo © Jeroen via Adobe Stock
Natural herbivores, they feed on a variety of dry, fibrous vegetation and often travel great distances with their long, powerful legs to find food.
It’s another reason why they do well in dry, barren environments and can easily escape predators – although these are few and far between following the extermination of Tasmanian tigers and the widespread persecution of dingoes.
Arguably, kangaroos have become one of the world’s most iconic and charismatic species – everyone loves them – but Australia has a complicated relationship with its national symbol.
On the one hand, kangaroos are protected legally under federal legislation, but on the other, they’re systematically slaughtered; killed in staggeringly large numbers with government-issued licences.
Why are kangaroos culled?
Hunted in the dead of night – away from public scrutiny – in the vast Australian outback, the kangaroo ‘cull’ divides public opinion.
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Some consider kangaroos to be a pest, but that's not the only driving factor behind the kangaroo cull. Photo © slowmotiongli via Adobe Stock
They’re considered a national treasure but also a ‘pest’, often unfairly blamed for damaging fences, causing hazards on the roads, out-competing sheep and cattle for food and overgrazing land.
Proponents of kangaroo killing are seemingly driven by commercial interests, falsely believing populations can build up to plague proportions and should therefore be eradicated wholesale.
Perhaps surprisingly, this bloody trade in wildlife is also partly driven by retailers outside of Australia, keen to sell consumers ‘novelty meat’.
Yet, as with all supermarket meat products, the packaging doesn’t even begin to tell the whole story.
Kangaroos are not farmed animals. They simply can’t be, because they find it so stressful that their muscles literally waste away.
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Kangaroos in Australia are killed for meat, often to be sold as a novelty product. Photo © arliftatoz2205 via Adobe Stock
In 2022, the Australian Government authorised the killing of nearly four and a half million kangaroos in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia for both the commercial kangaroo meat trade and ‘k-leather’ industry (the type of leather predominantly used in professional football boots).
Kangaroos are also killed in non-commercial culls to reduce the “significant impact that over-abundant populations have on agriculture and Australia’s natural environment”, which seems rather ironic.
Why the kangaroo cull is not ‘natural selection’
As a ‘boom-and-bust’ species, kangaroos naturally increase their numbers when times are good and die in equally large numbers when environmental factors become too harsh.
During a particularly severe drought in the early 1980s, kangaroo numbers plummeted from around 19 million to 11 million!
Yet the kill quota was still set at more than three million, undermining the process of natural selection and threatening the survival of the entire species.
The kangaroo undermines natural selection, wiping out the largest, strongest individuals. Photo © Luke via Adobe Stock
It also doesn’t help that the biggest, healthiest animals are targeted to ensure greater profits – they have the most meat to sell.
In response, a population will try to breed quickly to regain numbers.
It means that the less fit individuals reproduce, causing a genetically inferior mob.
This situation is worsened in severe drought conditions when, on top of the millions of kangaroos that die naturally, shooters wipe out the very individuals who are most likely to survive the extreme conditions.
Over the last 10 years, more than 31.5 million kangaroos have been killed and today, the industry is worth over $200 million.
It’s no wonder it’s so well-protected and lacks any public consultation.
According to the National Code of Practice for the Humane Shooting of Kangaroos and Wallabies for Commercial Purposes (The Code), the most efficient way to kill a kangaroo is a bullet to the head.
Despite The Code setting out guidelines for 'humane killing', kangaroos are often subjected to prolonged, painful deaths. Photo © imphilip via Adobe Stock
Rather than being enshrined in law, though, The Code is considered more of a guideline for professional markspersons to adhere to and accuracy isn’t guaranteed.
Stray bullets often hit the throats or necks of the animals, leading to prolonged and painful deaths that are far from humane.
Murder in the outback
It’s an alarming picture – night after night, shooters criss-crossing the huge desolate outback in large four-track vehicles, illuminating their prey with powerful searchlights as they take aim and fire.
Relative to their body size, kangaroos have small heads and as they scatter, it makes taking the shot even harder.
The Australian RSPCA believes at least 120,000 adult kangaroos each year are miss-shot, but admits that the number is a conservative estimate.
It takes no account of the unquantifiable number of injured animals who escape only to die slow, agonising deaths from their injuries later.
Mother kangaroos often have their young close by. Photo © Brock Cook/Wirestock Creators via Adobe Stock
Joeys (baby kangaroos) are not immune to the devastation either.
Mothers often have a joey in their pouch and one at foot – neither of which can survive without her. However, The Code states that only the joey in the pouch must be killed along with their mother.
Shockingly, the recommended method for a hairless joey is decapitation with a sharp knife or for larger young, blunt force trauma to destroy their brain.
The reality in the field is that most will be either stamped on, clubbed, shot or simply left to die of starvation, predation, cold or neglect.
There are no official statistics on joey deaths to hold the industry to account, but it’s believed that over a 10-year average, 800,000 dependent joeys are killed as collateral damage.
It’s no wonder the industry and its customers refuse to discuss the plight of joeys. Such senseless killing of baby animals is too horrifying to even imagine.
Unimaginable cruelty is visited upon young kangaroos, despite the cull mainly targeting adults. Photo © Brayden via Adobe Stock
The campaign against the kangaroo cull
The annual kangaroo massacre is something that Viva! has been actively campaigning to end since 1994 and it has achieved numerous successes.
Determined to expose the horror and stop the cruelty, in 2006, after a four-year campaign by Viva!, David Beckham finally ditched his controversial kangaroo skin football boots in favour of synthetic ones.
In 2010-2011, Viva! persuaded football giants Adidas and Nike to phase out kangaroo leather from their entire lines of soccer boots.
The campaign also saw kangaroo meat removed from all UK supermarkets, as well as companion animal supply store Pets At Home.
But, Viva’s kangaroo campaign hasn’t ended. Kangaroos are unique animals that have adapted to the harsh Australian environment and are an essential part of the ecosystem, and they are still under threat.
Do your bit for our furry (and not-so-furry) friends without spending lots of time and money with these easy ways to help animals
Featured photo © Jakub via Adobe Stock