About Kangaroos

Submission 73

Uncle Max Dulumnmun Harrision

"The kangaroo preceded our indigenous culture more than 80,000 years ago and has both the land and living rights above all other introduced species. The kangaroo has the right to live without cruelty and exploitation. Kangaroos are a valuable totem to our people. They have been in Australia for millions of years. This is their land. They are the first Australians. Native animals, birds and reptiles have the highest respect in our Cultural Totemic System.

The kangaroo to me is an important part of this nation that they call Australia. The kangaroo lets me know about my different song lines and which way I can go. I've only just got those four directions and he can show me and give me a chance to see another way as a survival sign post.

For our Aboriginal people on the Eastern seaboard the kangaroo is a totem and a food source. It also leads us to our dreaming tracks and they're so important because we can follow those dreaming tracks and learn whatever the kangaroo is taking and eating on a particular track.

The kangaroos are our explorers that are telling us what's on that land and what we can learn from that land like where the food and water sources are.

Kangaroos are part of ceremony and we hunt them for food. We as Aboriginal people for over 50,000 years when we killed a kangaroo it was done with ceremony, before the kill and after the kill. My people have lived beside the kangaroo for thousands of years and we never considered them as a pest. So why do people want to control these wonderful animals? Bright lights are blinding defenseless animals and then bullets put into them, to me that's not culling. It is slaughter.

Inside cultural practice, we only ever took what was needed for food and medicine. We never harvested meat or medicine for profit. It is not spiritual practice to kill our iconic animals for $80 Million per annum. It was not an industry that drove the hunt, it was our ceremonial practice for food and medicine and still is today.

The kangaroo is our Australian icon adopted by the Australian government, and is shown on. shields, coins, emblems, and Parliament House itself, along with official letter heads and other paraphernalia. Yet it appears on the brink of becoming a threatened species. It is a huge loss for us all that they are treated so badly.

This powerful soft-footed animal, who shares our nation with us, has been relegated last, replaced by hard hooved introduced species, creating displacement and desecration.

Have any shooters, abattoirs and chefs seen the movie ‘Kangaroos A Love-Hate Story’, a master documentary that exposes the opposite to any 'perfect kill' that is portrayed by the industry. Here we see the true faces of the dirty cruel Industry that does nothing more than plunder and profiteer at the expense of our innocent first nation native animals.

How long have those kangaroos been hopping on this land? They are not intruding on farmers or developers, or roadways. It is humans invading the kangaroos space and it is the kangaroo that is being disregarded.

Stepping outside respect lore, leads to an imbalance in the totemic system and consequently mass slaughter and illness. Those indigenous brothers and sisters who hold their lore and practice culture through the wisdom of the ancients know to protect the kangaroo from a harvest of exportation, exploitation, and extinction, by not supporting such a cruel and greedy industry

Recommendations: We need to live with this wonderful animal that they call the kangaroo. We need to understand their ways and live in harmony with them. We need to look and learn how to live on this land without destruction. Then we can live in harmony with every living thing on this land they call Australia.

Holding Love “

Submission 9

Aunty Ro Mudyin Godwin, Indigenous Educator, Freelance Journalist.

“Kangaroo are my Family Totem they are a Creator Spirit. The Kangaroo connects us as one with Country & with Ancestors. The Kangaroo created the rivers, country. I’m a Palawa Woman. Palawa, this is the name of the first man who was also created from the Tarner (Kangaroo) by a creator spirit. Totems, Lore & Protocols vary from mob to mob, from people to people, family to family.

I’m taught by Elders that Song Lines are traveling routes across Country, some are known as Dreaming Tracks, Pathways. Creator Spirits such as the Kangaroo first walked these tracks. Connecting with what’s left of these tracks, provides us with connection to Spirit Ancestors. As the Kangaroo bounds across Country, the thud of their feet, tails creates ripples or vibrations if you will, that reverberate across Country ensuring healing & regeneration, this in itself ensures interconnectedness. Interconnectedness means the state of completeness, ensuring that all beings are connected with each other, further ensuring all are linked in balance. An example in the physical sense can be seen by the regenerative behaviours of the Kangaroo. The Kangaroo are essential in seed dispersal with seeds catching in their fur, being transported & ensuring regeneration of Country, this also occurs re Kangaroo Pooh which is full of nutritional value & the best natural fertiliser, which also has seeds within. This little package, self seeding & again ensuring regeneration. The large toe nails & indeed the claws of the Kangaroo leaving indentations across Country, as they forage & move about, ensuring aeration of soils thus encouraging healthy soil ecology (in the last remaining areas where Kangaroos can be found of course) these indentations as well as enabling the aeration of soils, also act as seed pits which then trap seeds, moisture & this again ensures the ongoing regeneration of Country. The top grazing behaviours of the Kangaroo also regenerating new growth in Indigenous Flora & upon which various other species such as the Koala also depend upon for its survival. To put it simply …no Kangaroos, no seed dispersal, no regeneration of Country, no trees, no Indigenous Wildlife. Kangaroos are an essential link in the chain encompassing the health & wellbeing of Country.

The hip holes also created by the Kangaroo which are usually found in wooded areas( what’s left of wooded areas) given the Kangaroo is a prey animal are also significantly important in the regeneration of Country. These bowls are obviously near or at the foot of trees, the bowls if you like, are created as the Kangaroo rests during the day. These bowls also act as an organic matter trap, trapping seeds, moisture etc which again ensures the regeneration of Country continues. So as we see the Kangaroo plays a pivotal & essential role in the complete interconnectedness of Country both past, present & future & in the Spiritual, Ancestral & physical connection between all. In the areas where they have been gunned down & eradicated off, we see none of the above, in fact in many areas thanks to the illness of Colonialism, the White Man has created a desolate moonscape, littered with millions of head of over exploited Sheep & Cattle & vast areas of equally destructive Mono‐cropping. ”.

Voiceless

“Kangaroos are native animals who have adapted uniquely to the Australian landscape. Their ancient ancestor has been traced back 24 million years to the Palaeopotorous – the starting point of all known kangaroo species. “

Kangaroo Rangers - https://kangaroorangers.com/about-kangaroos/

“Kangaroos are indigenous to Australia and have been living here for more than 16 million years. The word kangaroo derives from ‘Gangurru’, the name given to Eastern Grey Kangaroos by the Guuga Yimithirr people of Far North Queensland. Kangaroos are of cultural and spiritual significance to Aboriginal people across Australia.

The kangaroo is a symbol of Australia and appears on the coat of arms and on some currency. A significant number of Australia’s well-known organisations and sporting teams, including Qantas and the Royal Australian Air Force have also adopted the Kangaroo as their brand logo. The kangaroo is important to both Australian culture and the national image, and consequently there are numerous popular cultural references.

Kangaroos are shy and retiring by nature, and in normal circumstances present no threat to humans. In 2003, Lulu, an eastern grey which had been hand-reared, saved a farmer’s life by alerting family members to his location when he was injured by a falling tree branch.

In the past 30 years, over 90 million kangaroos and wallabies have been killed for their meat and skins. It is the largest commercial slaughter of land-based wildlife in the world. It is a common misconception that kangaroos are shot because they compete with grazing animals however, this mass slaughter is purely and simply a commercial kill of Australian wildlife.

Kangaroos are in the Macropodidae family, which also includes tree-kangaroos, wallabies, wallaroos, quokkas and pademelons. When people think of kangaroos, the four species that typically come to mind are; the antilopine kangaroo, the red kangaroo, the western grey kangaroo and the eastern grey kangaroo.

Red Kangaroos are the largest marsupial and can grow up to 2 metres. They can reach a top speed of over 65km/h – out-pacing a top racehorse. In one leap they can jump 3m high and 7.6m long.

Kangaroos are herbivores. They love to graze on grasses, flowers, leaves, ferns and moss.

A group of kangaroos is called a ‘mob’. A mob is made up of mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, uncles and aunts. A mob is guided and protected by an alpha male who is extremely important to the entire mob’s survival.

A female kangaroo is called a doe. With a complex reproductive set-up, a doe can be perpetually pregnant. While one joey is developing inside the pouch, another embryo is held in reserve in a uterus, waiting for its sibling to grow up and leave. Indeed, a mother kangaroo can nourish three separate youngsters at a time – an older joey that has left the pouch, a young one developing inside it, and an embryo still waiting to be born. And if that isn’t impressive enough, female kangaroos can determine the sex of their offspring and can even delay gestation when environmental factors are likely to diminish the chance of young surviving.

A baby kangaroo is called a joey. Like all marsupials, kangaroos are born extremely early; the equivalent of the seventh week of pregnancy for humans. They travel from the birth canal as little more than an embryo by blindly propelling through the mother’s fur to the safety of the pouch, where they will spend several months developing before finally leaving to explore the world.

Kangaroos are famous for their means of transport: hopping! They can reach speeds of 60kph, clearing more than 8m with a single hop.“

Submission 270

“When the First Fleet arrived in New South Wales in 1788 kangaroo meat quickly found its way onto the tables of the officer, settler and convict alike…A convict who understood the business of a tanner had shewn that the skin of the kangooroo might be tanned… [however] …the skin itself was not of a substance to be applied to the soling of shoes…

However once the sheep flocks and herds of cattle were established, the British colonisers went back to the diet of the motherland by preference; mutton, beef and pork, and kangaroos became a pest to the agricultural industry. By the 1860s kangaroos were being killed en masse simply to rid the land of “the noxious marsupial”. The killers were not particularly interested even in the skins.

Because it was farmers who were having to do most of the killing, and bullets and labour were expensive, the government chipped in by paying bounties, which incentivised anyone with a gun to kill them.

In 1920 the Geraldton Guardian reported… …The export of hides and skins has for many years past been an important factor in the prosperity of the Victoria District.

It was still about skins in the 1950s; from Kirkpatrick & McDougall (1970) again… …during the period 1950-1960 the annual harvest of marsupial skins was 450,000, about 90% kangaroos, conservatively assessed as worth £150,000 at the level of prices to shooters…

However myxomatosis was released in 1950, which crashed rabbit populations. Strahan in his evidence to the House of Representatives Select Committee on Wildlife Conservation (1971) described what happened next… …the exploitation of kangaroos for meat is related to the introduction of myxamatosis, a rapid decline in rabbit populations, and the consequent collapse of the chilled rabbit industry. The shift from rabbits to kangaroos was rapid and unpremeditated

In 1964 TIME USA wrote… …Some consider this a waste. "In kangaroos," says Basil J. Marlow, curator of mammals at the Australian museum in Sydney, "you have a valuable source of protein. Instead of being shoved into bloody dogs and cats, it could be more profitably shoved into humans. Kangaroo meat is quite tasty when properly butchered."

Subsequently there was a push to promote kangaroo meat for human consumption, including to domestic and international markets, as selling product to fine-dining restaurants or to people from super market shelves increases the sale price per kilo, compared to the prices people will pay for pet meat.

However the human consumption market has been plagued by controversy, as food hygiene standards during processing have been necessarily difficult to maintain. “

Submission 160

“There is no argument that the four kangaroo species are uniquely adapted to the Australian landscape having evolved 1-2 million years ago. They drive ecosystem processes through soil turnover and catchment of litter in their diggings (hip-holes), cycle nutrients, disperse seeds and maintain open pastures with greater diversity and less fuel for fires (Eldridge and Rath, 2002).

Although kangaroos are broadly perceived as over abundant after wet years, there is no evidence as to what their numbers should be in the landscape. In fact there is no known carrying capacity (McLeod, 1997), and inference from indigenous landscape management suggests that prior to European settlement the dominant grey kangaroo species would have benefited from a mosaic of open and forested landscapes (Pasco, 2018). “

Submission 231

“Australia is the only continent upon which these magnificent beings exist yet instead of being their guardians we have become their abusers and the reason of their destruction. Marsupials are unique animals and whilst they adapt well to the Australian climate and condition they also pay the price of bushfires and droughts. But their biggest enemy is humans - we Australians. We take them for granted. We take their land to build homes, to provide grazing for cattle and sheep and to build roads. We drive carelessly and leave them injured often with babies in their pouch. We shoot them and treat them like pests because they try to survive and graze on ‘our land’ and drink ‘our water’ - the land and water we took from them in the first place... We hunt them and use them as a source of food, or for their skin, or even their paws... The brutalities we inflict on them are countless... We forget that they are the natives and we are the imposters! Indeed our human arrogance has no boundaries and yet we proudly display them as a symbol of our country... It is time to turn around and start cherishing and protecting the native life that is part of this continent and live in harmony with it. I pray that your inquiry will do just this“

Submission 274

“I operate a shelter for kangaroos in Central Victoria and on Easter Sunday 2020 an adolescent male kangaroo named Eddy broke his leg. A vet in Central NSW offered to perform orthopaedic surgery (free of charge) which ultimately saved Eddy’s life.

With a COVID permit in hand I did a 12 hour round trip of driving, covering approximately 900 kilometres.

Over that 12 hour period, I saw only 3 dead kangaroos on the side of the road and a small family of 4 alive which were no doubt the remaining 4 of a larger mob slaughtered in central Victoria. I saw NO alive kangaroos in NSW.

The constant slaughter and cruelty our native animal is subjected to every night across this country is an international disgrace and we are now at the cross roads as to who will have their names forever listed against the inevitable extinction of the kangaroo in our history books. Localised extinction is already occurring through development, shooting, exclusion fencing and human apathy and ignorance.

When will the Australian government stand up and say; “We care for our ancient and beautiful First Australians the kangaroo?”. The beauty of this nation will be lost when the song of the kangaroos tail pounding the earth stops. It will be an echo-less and barren landscape.

Which of our decision makers have heard the pitiful squeak of a baby kangaroo crying out to its mother as it is ripped from her pouch to have its head smashed against the bulbar of the slaughterman’s vehicle then tossed like garbage alongside it’s mothers entrails? This baby will never have known how to hop, will never have played with other youngster and will never have the chance to reproduce.

A female kangaroo can only have ONE baby a year; just like a human female.

They cannot sustain entire families being slaughtered every night, night after night with the expectation to continue breeding as their alpha males are taken and they simply reach a tipping point of no return.

People can see lions here in Zoos but what people most desire is to see them in the wild in Africa. This is why people come to Australia. To see our kangaroos in the wild. Our 6 billion dollar nature based industry is being lost. The world now views us the way we view the Canadians clubbing baby seals or the Chinese boiling dogs alive.

The trophy for the largest land based slaughter of a native wildlife on the planet sits squarely on the mantel in Parliament house.

Eddy recovered from his surgery to return to his mob and run free. He NEVER forgot the kindness shown to him. He would express love to me every day. These animals are sentient beings that love, protect and mourn their family losses. The fact we are responsible for such cruelty to an incredibly kind and gentle animal is a shame we must all wear as a nation. “