Kangaroos in Australia Being Driven to Localized Extinction for Their Meat; Activists File Petition Against New Zealand

Kangaroo eaters are apparently contributing to the localized extinction of the Aussie animals, according to Australian wildlife activists.

The high demand for kangaroo meat from New Zealand and other countries in Europe is equivalent to hunting the native mammal species.

Petition to New Zealand

The animal wildlife group Friends of Mother Earth has filed a petition to the New Zealand Parliament to call for the ban on importing kangaroo products from Australia.

So far, the petition has garnered 1,500 signatures as of Tuesday, March 29.

One of the group's activists Robyn Parnell accused New Zealander kiwi kangaroo eaters of their demand for a high volume of meat, as per New Zealand's Stuff.co.nz new site.

The petition is set to expire on Monday, April 11, and Parnell is yet to find a member of the parliament who can help their case.

New Zealand is only one of the few countries to allow foreigners who are New Zealand nationals or citizens to submit a petition.

Australia's Department of Agriculture, Water, and the Environment (AWE) reportedly stated New Zealand imported 115 tons of kangaroo products over the past five years, but only 13 tons were exported to the country in 2021.

Kangaroo Population

According to the AWE, approximately 1.5 million or 3% of the 50 million kangaroos in Australia are used for meat production each year.

The Australian agricultural agency also highlighted only four species of kangaroos namely: the red kangaroo, eastern grey kangaroo, western grey kangaroo, and common wallaroo; are permitted for commercial harvesting and meat export.

The agency added the mentioned species have an abundant population and are not included in the list of endangered or threatened with extinction.

However, Parnell purportedly claimed that the kangaroo population in Australia prior to the European colonization ranged approximately from 100 million to 200 million.

Furthermore, activists alleged kangaroos are only considered 'overabundant' by industries and the government in comparison with farm animals.

Kangaroo Product Export to Europe

Although the export of kangaroo products, notably meat and skin, is legal in Australia, wildlife activists are also concerned about the welfare of kangaroos.

Still, there are some alleged cases where they are killed illegally.

Aside from New Zealand, the prevalence of kangaroo meat export is evident in Europe-with Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands having a collective import weighing 7,000 tons since 2017, as cited by Stuff.co.nz.

The Eurogroup for Animals said almost a total of 90 million kangaroos and wallabies in Australia have been hunted for their meat or skin over the past three decades.

The European animal rights organization reported that the following countries in Europe imported kangaroo meat and other related products, as well as provided their estimated value as of 2016:

• Belgium - imported 632.4 tons of kangaroo meat with a value of 4.3 million Australian Dollars (AUD).
• Germany - acquired 497.2 tons of meat, and the total value is 2.6 million AUD. In addition, the country imported almost 700,000 kangaroo hides and skins with a value of 8.7 million AUD from 2012 to 2016.
• The Netherlands - received 232 tons of kangaroo meat worth 1.5 million AUD.
• France - only imported 167.7 tons of kangaroo meat amounting to 1.2 million AUD.
• UK - prior to Brexit, the lowest recorded export of kangaroo meat to the UK was only 26.5 tons valued at 167,000.
• Italy - around 2 million hides and skins valued at 24.7 million AUD were exported to Italy from 2012 to 2016.