Looks like I may soon be taking down one of SPA's policies for the first time due to it being enacted. There is a bill in California to remove the ban on Kangaroo skins. Of course, PETA is in action and is lying to the ignorant Americans, who still seem to think Kangaroos are almost extinct, even though there are far more of them now than when Europeans first arrived and the government strictly controls the harvest. I have been promoting this change on American forums for some time, but have never come across anyone else promoting it. I thought the law was very entrenched and didn't have a hope of being rescinded. I'm glad I was wrong.

http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/kanga_petition

Allowing kangaroo skins to be sold in California would threaten the species' existence. Australian government statistics show that kangaroo populations have been dwindling and are now the lowest that they have been in more than a decade.

Less than ten years ago, when they were seriously overpopulated?

Mentioned in the whaling thread:

http://ozpolitic.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1168478179/0

SPA policy:

http://www.ozpolitic.com/articles/sustainability-party.html

---

Calls for investigation into 'Roo meat

http://www.smh.com.au/news/breaking-news/calls-for-investigation-into-roo-meat/2007/05/23/1179601475605.html

Animal rights groups have renewed their campaign for the kangaroo meat industry to be shut down, saying the meat can carry a potentially dangerous disease.

Animal Liberation and the Wildlife Protection Association of Australia want the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) to urgently act on the issue.

Ninety per cent of kangaroo meat in the $200 million-a-year industry is exported.

Kangaroo Industry Association of Australia executive officer John Kelly said toxoplasmosis is a risk in all undercooked meat.

"Kangaroos can have significantly lower levels of toxoplasmosis than the sheep population," Mr Kelly said.

"It presents a minimal risk to humans."

---

Apparently police officers in the US wear boots made from kangaroo skin.

Terminator, Becks in US roo skin row

http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Terminator-Becks-in-US-roo-skin-row/2007/06/01/1180205480067.html

California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and soccer glamour boy David Beckham have become central figures in an Australian kangaroo cruelty campaign in the US.

At stake is a potential export market worth tens of millions of dollars for the Australian kangaroo export industry and the right for Californian sports stars to wear shoes made from soft, lightweight kangaroo skin.

It is illegal to import kangaroo skins and meat to California, but Schwarzenegger is likely rule in September whether to keep the ban.

California is the only US state to have the ban.

The prospect of Schwarzenegger legalising the importation of kangaroo has angered US animal rights activists, who have responded by launching a state-wide campaign.

It has been adidas, which has spent more than $US435,000 ($A526,000) lobbying the California legislature, and the LA Galaxy, that have led the fight to have the ban overturned.

The LA Galaxy argues its players are at a disadvantage as other clubs outside California playing in America's Major League Soccer competition can wear kangaroo leather shoes, which are light and soft.

On Tuesday, after four years of failed attempts, adidas and the LA Galaxy were successful when the Senate passed a bill that would allow kangaroo product to be imported and sold in California if the species was not protected by laws in the US and abroad.

There are 55 species of kangaroo and six, including red, eastern and western, that can be commercially harvested in Australia.

The next hurdle for adidas and the LA Galaxy is California's Assembly.

If the assembly approves the bill it will then go to Schwarzenegger who could sign it and make it law or veto it.

"If the bill does pass the assembly we will ask Governor Schwarzenegger to veto the bill," Karpel said.

---

California to allow roo sales

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,21643150-5001021,00.html

CALIFORNIA is poised to overturn a 35-year ban on kangaroo imports.

But Kangaroo Industry Association of Australia executive officer John Kelly said kangaroo products were already legally sold in the US under federal laws and three separate court challenges had found the national rules override any state bans.

If the Californian law was passed it would be welcome but would not have a major impact on Australia's $200 million-a-year roo industry.

More info on the pending legislation:

http://ozpolitic.com/sustainability-party/kangaroo-law.html

Senate OKs imports of kangaroo skin

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-legis30may30,1,2658194.story?track=rss&ctrack=2&cset=true

SACRAMENTO — After years of assertive lobbying by Adidas, the California Senate voted Tuesday to legalize the import and sale of kangaroo skins so that soccer players can buy shoes made from the marsupials' coveted leather.

The Senate kangaroo bill, which has pitted the Los Angeles Galaxy and CD Chivas USA soccer teams and sporting goods stores against animal rights activists, would ease California's 37-year import ban on kangaroo products.

The bill passed in the Senate — after four years of failed efforts — would allow a kangaroo product to be imported and sold in California if the species is not otherwise protected by laws here and abroad.

Of the 55 species of kangaroos in Australia, six are commercially harvested and exported, and would be allowed if the bill is approved by the Assembly and signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Those species include red and eastern and western gray kangaroos.

Animal activists are fighting the proposal, which they say will lead to the deaths of endangered kangaroos because hunting is done at night and the species are difficult to differentiate. They also object to the rules of kangaroo hunting, which dictate that if a mother is killed the baby must be killed as well.

Malcolm Turnbull, a representative of the Australian government, told the Senate that such a change in California law would not lead to the deaths of any endangered kangaroo species and that different species are "readily distinguishable."

Since 2003, the first year the bill was introduced, Adidas America has spent $435,693 lobbying the Legislature, state filings show.

Soccer players crave kangaroo leather for its light weight, and both professional teams and amateur leagues have expressed support for the bill.

In written testimony, Alexi Lalas, president of the Los Angeles Galaxy, said that California's law has put his team at a competitive disadvantage with the rest of Major League Soccer.

"Because my team represents California in a highly competitive sport, I believe that the full array of soccer products should be locally accessible to and be available for purchase by our players here in California," Lalas wrote to the Senate last month. "It is unfair to have these products freely available for commercial purchase in all of the other 49 states and not here."

---

Defence calls off kangaroo cull in ACT

http://www.smh.com.au/news/breaking-news/defence-calls-off-kangaroo-cull-in-act/2007/07/05/1183351375895.html

The Defence Department has shelved indefinitely a plan to shoot thousands of kangaroos at two military sites in the ACT.

The proposal to cull nearly 4,000 eastern grey kangaroos drew protests from animal rights activists when it was made public in May.

The department said it would defer a decision on the cull to learn more about long-term kangaroo management.

---

ACT demands answers over roo cull move

http://www.smh.com.au/news/breaking-news/act-demands-answers-over-roo-cull-move/2007/07/16/1184559687463.html

The ACT government has demanded the commonwealth explain how it will conserve two defence sites after calling off a massive kangaroo cull.

---

Animal libbers attack sustainable industry (again)

http://ozpolitic.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1177553978/2#2

---

California blocks sale of kangaroo shoes

http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/California-blocks-sale-of-kangaroo-shoes/2007/07/24/1185043070556.html

California's Supreme Court has barred athletic shoe maker Adidas from selling shoes made from kangaroo leather in the state - reversing a lower court's decision.

California does not allow products made from kangaroo hide to be sold or imported into the state, despite the fact they exist in near plague proportions in drought-ravaged Australia and have to be culled.

A spokeswoman for Adidas wrote in an email that the company expects to ultimately prevail in the matter, but did not clarify further. Other legal matters related to the case now will be sent back to the appeals court.

Meanwhile, a bill that would overturn California's ban is working its way through the state legislature.

Those apologists for cattle feedlots and intensive factory farming, the 'Wildlife Protection Association' and 'Animal Liberation,' are launching a major campaign against one of our most sustainable free range industries - kangaroo harvesting. Having failed miserably to convince locals of the 'error of their ways' they are now moving on to more ignorant people in Europe, hoping to convince them with stageprop footage of people clubbing kangaroos to death like they were baby seals. Armed with emotive pleas and manufactured statistics they are touring Europe hoping they can trick them into anti-competitive and anti-free trade laws that would harm their fellow Australians. It's no wonder they chose Europe, as these people would see us continue to try to re-create Europe on a fragile land that simply cannot support traditional and 'culturally acceptable' European farming practices. They are also using scare campaigns like claiming the meat is not fit for human consumption.

I saw this on SBS world news Australia also - they pointed out the factual errors in the claims and statistics and also the 'mocked up' clubbing footage, which is obviously designed to remind Europeans of another big issue there - seal clubbing.

Campaign against roo meat heads to Europe

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/campaign-against-roo-meat-heads-to-europe/2007/04/17/1176696838768.html

ACTIVISTS from two Australian animal rights organisations will start a campaign of street demonstrations, political lobbying and media appearances in Europe next week to promote their claims that kangaroo meat production is unhygienic.

But chillers are used to hold carcasses en route to a factory, and Mr Pearson conceded he had no evidence of meat leaving the company's processing plant being contaminated. Both the company and the Kangaroo Industry Association say stringent checks mean the meat is completely safe.

The pair also plan to tell Europeans that kangaroo shooting is cruel and say they have documentary and photographic evidence that some kangaroos have been shot in the body - not with the single clean bullet to the head required by an industry-regulated code of practice.

"There was an outcry in Europe about the killing in Norway and Canada of the harp seals," Mr Pearson said. "We will be saying the killing of the harp seals is a Sunday picnic compared to the killing of kangaroos in Australia."

Armed with kangaroo masks and large pictures of cuddly joeys for demonstrations, they plan to hold media conferences outside Australian embassies and to lobby key members of the European Commission in Brussels.

Their aim is to end the growing export of kangaroo meat for human consumption - worth about $200 million a year - and to halt the annual cull. This year's government-approved quotas allow 3.8 million kangaroos to be killed nationwide.

Mr Pearson says he also has evidence that in some instances temperatures in chillers and transport trucks holding kangaroo carcasses exceeded the recommended seven degrees.

Victor Bates, director of Vacik Distributors, said the claims by the two groups were completely unfounded. Carcasses that were contaminated in any way, that had been shot in breach of the code or that had been held or transported in excessive temperatures were condemned and would not be processed at his company's factory, he said.

"Every animal is inspected by an [Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service] meat inspector under supervision of a veterinary surgeon. We carry out stringent bacterial controls throughout the factory on a daily basis."

The temperature in trucks was recorded on a graph and an AQIS vet checked each load of carcasses as it arrived at the factory, he said.

A spokesman for the Kangaroo Industry Association, John Kelly, said any test results the groups were using had to be questioned because government-controlled test systems ensured that the meat was perfectly safe.

"The saddest part of it is these people are attempting to shut down an industry which is hailed almost universally by Australian scientists as delivering beautiful environmental models of how we should utilise this land."

I think you will find that the sort of people that fight this type of thing are hidden away in their terrace houses in Glebe and only get to see kangaroos when they go to the zoo. Most wouldn't know the difference between a wallaby and a kangaroo.

Kangaroos eat the short grass hence a nightmare for farmers.

Canberra roo cull plan sparks protests

http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Canberra-roo-cull-plan-sparks-protests/2007/05/14/1178995044154.html

Outraged animal liberation groups say they will demonstrate to stop the ACT government and the Australian Defence Force (ADF) culling more than 3,000 kangaroos from two ADF sites.

The ACT government and ADF say the cull is necessary because of overgrazing and the risk of kangaroos starving.

The plan has revived memories of a 2004 cull when the killing of 1,000 kangaroos around Canberra's Googong catchment sparked global attention.

---

ACT decision makes kangaroo cull likely

http://news.smh.com.au/act-decision-makes-kangaroo-cull-likely/20080304-1wr4.html

A mob of kangaroos in the ACT may be back on death row as the territory's government is reportedly preventing them from being moved over the border.

The ACT government has refused to grant export licences for hundreds of eastern grey kangaroos living on a Defence site to be relocated to NSW, The Canberra Times reported.

As a result, the Department of Defence has abandoned plans to move the kangaroos from the former naval transmission station in suburban Belconnen, leaving a population cull as the only alternative.

---

Animal rights 'next great social debate'

http://news.smh.com.au/animal-rights-next-great-social-debate/20080304-1wr1.html

The growth of organic food and farmers' markets is likely to lead to greater concern about animal rights, the Australian Law Reform Commission says.

Coles and Woolworths have launched their own organic brands and some supermarkets offer a whole aisle dedicated to organic food.

"Increasing concern for animal welfare and consumer demand for organic and free range products, backed up with stricter food labelling requirements, is likely to trigger the next great social justice movement in Australia," the commission's Reform magazine said.

"The shelves are full of boxes of factory-produced eggs confusingly stamped with labels such as farm fresh, all natural and barn raised.

---

Activists slam ACT kangaroo fencing

http://news.smh.com.au/activists-slam-act-kangaroo-fencing/20080310-1yif.html

An animal welfare group has accused the ACT government of cruelty towards kangaroos it is preparing to kill.

The group says temporary fencing erected on a Defence site in Canberra to facilitate the cull has caused the animals distress by separating them from family members and their water supply.

---

Activists plan move against 'roo cull

http://news.smh.com.au/activists-plan-move-against-roo-cull/20080311-1yp3.html

Animal welfare activists have warned they are planning to disrupt the killing of hundreds of kangaroos on a Defence site in the ACT if legal action isn't successful.

"People are threatening to climb the fence to disrupt any killing that's taking place.

---

Govt won't stop Canberra Kangaroo cull

http://news.smh.com.au/govt-wont-stop-canberra-kangaroo-cull/20080312-1ywd.html

The federal government will not intervene to prevent the culling of hundreds of kangaroos in Canberra.

Contractors hired by the Department of Defence are preparing to cull about 400 kangaroos on a former naval site at Belconnen, in Canberra's north.

Defence is culling the kangaroos after the ACT government refused to allow them to be relocated, citing expert advice that doing so would be inhumane.

---

Kangaroo cull must be avoided: Brown

http://news.smh.com.au/kangaroo-cull-must-be-avoided-brown/20080313-1z45.html

Australia should do everything in its power to avoid culling hundreds of kangaroos in Canberra, Greens leader Bob Brown says.

---

Canberra Kangaroo cull delayed

http://news.smh.com.au/canberra-kangaroo-cull-delayed/20080318-204c.html

The cull of more than 400 kangaroos on defence department property in Canberra is unlikely to take place before Easter, an animal activist group says.

About a dozen protesters, who were expecting the cull to begin on Tuesday, camped at the former naval site in the city's north Monday night.

The Wildlife Protection Association says the cull has been postponed until next week.

The delay is likely because of a lack of on-site preparation and a bid to exhaust protesters who have vowed to blockade the site indefinitely, he said.

"We understand that the pens and site are not ready to go ahead and do the kill, I think they are also trying a stalling tactic to wear us (protesters) out."

Contractors hired by the Department of Defence are planning the cull after the ACT government refused to allow the kangaroos to be relocated, citing expert advice that doing so would be inhumane.

A report to the ACT government recommended the cull go ahead without delay to protect lowland native grasslands and threatened species.

The law has passed, but there is a media blackout:

http://www.ozpolitic.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1203549919/4#4

---

Good move. Spending $3.5 million on saving animals that we are harvesting for food in other parts of the country is absurd.

Department of Defence to cull 600 kangaroos

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23711571-12339,00.html

A CULL of 600 kangaroos at risk of starvation on Defence Department land will proceed, with a plan to move the animals to another site abandoned.

Brigadier Andrew Nikolic announced yesterday that Defence would be forced to proceed with the cull after the federal Government withdrew its support for a planned "translocation project".

It is understood the Government's concerns related to the cost of the exercise - about $3.5 million.

"Defence therefore has no option but to undertake a cull at (the Belconnen naval transmitting station in Canberra)," Brigadier Nikolic said.

Initial news of a cull generated anger from animal rights activists, including former Beatle Paul McCartney.

---

latest KIAA newsletter:

http://www.kangaroo-industry.asn.au/news/news_frame.htm

   * Aunual quotas
   * More Australians dinning on roo
   * Be green eat more roo
   * T umbs up for an icon fusion
   * Roos and greenhouse gas
   * More re Greenpeace

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/10/02/2379803.htm

The kangaroo industry says the idea for more native animals to be harvested to help respond to climate change is a vote of confidence in the sector.

Professor Ross Garnaut's final report on climate change has suggested that reducing sheep and cattle numbers, and replacing them with 175 million farmed kangaroos, would help to dramatically reduce emissions.

John Kelly from the Kangaroo Industry Association says it is a sound concept.

"The idea of getting sheep out of the rangelands and running kangaroos as an alternate enterprise is one that's been around for a long time and it has a great deal of support," he said.

"The simple principle I guess is that it probably makes a great deal of environmental wisdom for us in this country to produce our food from the animals that belong here."

Mr Kelly says more work is needed to encourage Australians to eat kangaroo.

"What the industry is saying is that before we can go down this path we really do have to look at growing markets for the product it would generate," he said.

"If governments across the country see what Garnaut's about ... as a potential to reduce Australia's carbon footprint, then perhaps we should be looking at throwing a little bit more money at kangaroo industry market development."

Mr Kelly says kangaroo farming could work together with an emissions trading scheme.

"There's an opportunity for the rangelands, pastoral industries across Australia to tap in to the new market force of climate change and perhaps come up with a pastoral enterprise option, which may be for some of them more attractive than the current wool enterprises which they're running," he said.

The National Farmers Federation (NFF) says market forces should decide the future of Australia's red meat industry, not climate change.

Federation chief executive Ben Fahger says the idea of completely replacing the sheep and cattle industry is highly unlikely.

"What we want to do at NFF is make sure that cattle and sheep industries are not put out of business because of a carbon trading scheme, if there's still a market for kangaroo meat in some areas all well and good, but the thought of complete replacement, well, we just do not see that happening," he said.

http://www.ozpolitic.com/sustainability-party/kangaroo-law.html

It looks like we lost that post about the law being passed. Note that the bill contains a clause to placate the animal libbers, supposedly to stop California's new rule resulting in an increase in the kangaroo harvest. What it actually does is stop the quota being increased, but the harvest can still increase significantly while remaining below the quota. However, if the Australian government, on scientific advice, increases the quota, the ban comes back into place automatically. Presumably by then the californians will have forgotten all about the clause. Plenty of Californian businesses were importing roo meat anyway under the old ban. If they attempted to enforce a new ban, it would probably trigger whatver legislative changes are necessary.

http://dist30.casen.govoffice.com/index.asp?Type=B_PR&SEC=%7B3BD16284-A29E-4E71-9634-F20C48A897C6%7D&DE=%7BD1F3265C-2719-4C31-80EF-27F994EE7A39%7D

SACRAMENTO – Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed Senator Ron Calderon’s (D-Montebello) much talked about legislation SB 880, legalizing the sale in California of products made from the skins of non-endangered kangaroos.

Heeding the concerns of animal-rights groups, the measure ensures that no additional kangaroos will be harvested as a result of the California market opening up. If Australia raises its kangaroo take quota, SB 880 requires the ban on kangaroo products in California be reinstated. Said Calderon, “My measure levels the playing field for California businesses, ensuring endangered kangaroos remain protected. Kangaroo products are sold in California over the internet by out-of-state companies and some merchants here break the law and sell these products illegally. So why shouldn’t California merchants who obey the law also be able to compete?”

Russian meat ban extended to four Aus abattoirs


Quote:

Three of those abattoirs process kangaroo meat, and just one of the abattoirs in question processes beef.

I've heard that they are trying to establish own roo farms there.

Here's a place in San Francisco that sells roo meat:

http://www.polaricausa.com/

via email:


Quote:

A campaign has been launched in Europe to ask for an EU ban on import of all kangaroo products. A similar campaign last year saw the EU Parliament ban all seal imports. This can not be allowed to happen to the kangaroo industry. The campaign includes an on-line petition targeting EU Politicians claiming the industry is unsustainable. As part of our response we have launched our own petition on the same site seeking support for the industry.  Can you please sign it at http://www.thepetitionsite.com/94/support-the-kangaroo-harvest .  Doing this takes only seconds. Please pass this message on throughout your networks asking anyone who has any interest in the health of the kangaroo industry to also sign it, its very important. regards John Kelly Executive Officer Kangaroo Industries Association of Australia ph 03 6326 8639 fax 03 6326 2790 email kiaa@bigpond.net.au http://www.kangaroo-industry.asn.au

http://www.kangaroo-industry.asn.au/news/news_frame.htm

The bill in favour of selling kangaroo products in California passed 53 votes to 16 in the Californian assembly. I am not sure whether the governor still needs to sign off.

An EU petition to ban roo products has also been rejected unconditionally.

Update - the California petition has been signed off and enacted.

Excellent - I might indeed run a Roo Farm.
I just hope rednecks don't go out suddenly and start blasting every Roo they see because they weren't good enough to join the Military (and stay in it!) or be responsible enough to be Rangers.

I hope Australia can be very 'professional' about this and not obliterate the Roo population below the 50% mark for $$$ greed.

I took some foreign visitors out for a drive to see some roos. It was right on dusk - the perfect time. We drove around for at least 2 hours and did not see a single one. I suspect they do get hunted heavily in some areas - close to the processing facilities.

Yep.

Shame, a BIG RED is an awesome sight to see in full motion.
The Greys aren't too bad to watch either.

freediver wrote on Dec 16^th, 2010 at 8:47pm:

I took some foreign visitors out for a drive to see some roos. It was right on dusk - the perfect time. We drove around for at least 2 hours and did not see a single one. I suspect they do get hunted heavily in some areas - close to the processing facilities.

What region did you drive in FD??

And of course, had the been a lot of rain there recently??....About the only time you see roo's on the roads around here (southwest slope of NSW, near Wagga Wagga) is when it's dry and they feed on the roadside grasses....

Yeah I think there had been a fair bit of rain. That was probably it. But usually if you actually look out into the paddocks you can see them.

We were up near wivenhoe.

A few weeks ago,
I managed to cook some Roo meat for a large group of guests along with a choice of lamb, beef and Venison.
Luckily I cooked the Roo meat to perfection for it truly is the most difficult meat to cook of all. You really do have to get it just right.

Of all the meats, the Roo meat became the most popular due to superior 'rich' taste which compliments a nice Red wine better than Beef or Lamb. Venison was also popular. Only a few people stopped eating Roo meat once they realised what it was. I guess it was a matter of mind?

One person even asked me if it was Red Roo or Grey ...as if it made a difference? Who knows - maybe it does?