kangaroo her Australia they could starve to death by the millions if their population growth is not controlled, wildlife experts and environmental groups warn, with some even suggesting a mass cull of marsupials.

An icon of Australia, kangaroos are a major environmental problem due to their rapid reproduction: their numbers can reach tens of millions when food is plentiful after a good rainy season. But there can also be massive centipedes when food is scarce.

“We estimate that between 80% and 90% of kangaroos died in certain areas during the last drought,” environmentalist Katherine Mosby told AFP.

“They eat toilet paper”

“They go to public restrooms and eat toilet paper. Or they are left lying alone in the streets while their babies try to feed themselves,” he continues.

According to Mosby, killing kangaroos destined for the butcher or tannery would be both a merciful way to keep them from suffering and a way to control their population.

“This will reduce the number of animals so that in the event of a drought there will be no problems with welfare,” says Mosby. “If we think of it as a resource and manage it that way, we won’t have the catastrophic deaths we know.”

The Australian government protects kangaroos, but they are not threatened with extinction. This means that in most of the territory their hunting is allowed, for which a permit is required.

Up to five million kangaroos are killed each year for their meat or skin. And according to Dennis King of the Australian Kangaroo Breeders Association, the country is on the verge of a pet population boom.

“After three years of La Niña on the east coast, this is the ideal scenario for kangaroo growth for the next two years,” he predicts, referring to the atmospheric phenomenon that caused heavy rains in Australia. “The reproductive cycle is accelerating,” says King.

Australia’s kangaroo population is estimated to have fallen below 30 million after severe droughts in the early 2000s, but has since recovered and could soon top 60 million.

murder

Animal welfare organizations condemn their killing for commercial reasons as a “brutal slaughter” and are pressuring international sportswear giants like Nike or Puma to stop using kangaroo leather in their products.

“Nike has discontinued its sole supplier of kangaroo leather in 2021 and will stop manufacturing kangaroo leather products in 2023,” a company spokesperson said in March.

In the US state of Oregon (northwest US), where Nike is headquartered, lawmakers filed a bill in early 2023 to ban the use of “any body part of a dead kangaroo.”

“These endemic animals are being slaughtered for commercial gain,” Animals Australia said.

But campaigns to eliminate the industry, while well-intentioned, are misguided, warns George Wilson, one of the world’s leading experts on kangaroo management.

“They say it’s unethical. But it is unethical to let them starve to death,” he told AFP. “It would be cruel to do nothing,” he adds.

An opinion shared by Mosby. “Stopping killing kangaroos for their skins or meat won’t do any good,” he said. “It will make the situation even worse.”

^{Source: APE-MEB, AFP.}