Kangaroos and Wallabies

The Australian kangaroo and wallaby industry is based on the harvesting of kangaroos from the wild by shooters. The industry has developed over the past 30 years from being based on pest control to one where greater use is made of the harvested kangaroos, mainly for pet food but also increasingly for human consumption. Kangaroo skins are also an important product of the harvesting. Only kangaroos are harvested on the mainland of Australia and only wallabies are harvested in Tasmania.

Kangaroos

Products: Meat for human consumption, pet-food, skins/leather.

Synopsis – Australian Industry.

Kangaroo production operates under a quota system administered by the state and federal governments which have. Commercial harvesting is currently allowed with only four of the 55 species of kangaroos in Australia. The quotas in each state are generally set annually at 10–20 per cent of the estimated population for each of the permitted species.  Kangaroo populations vary substantially from year to year depending on seasonal conditions. The state conservation agencies and the Australian Government Department of the Environment and Water Resources, have the responsibility for monitoring kangaroo populations and the sustainability of the harvesting process. The number of kangaroos harvested is considerably below these quotas.

The gross value of production of the kangaroo industry was an estimated $43.9 million in 2007, down considerably from the early 2000s due to the effect of severe drought on kangaroo populations. This is a measure of the total amount paid to kangaroo shooters at the meat processing plant gates.  Kangaroo skins are an important component of the kangaroo industry.  Because of confidentiality requirements, there are only very limited country details available for these kangaroo skin exports.  The export market for pet food was worth $0.7 million in 2007, with the major markets in recent years being Indonesia and New Zealand.

Kangaroo meat exports for human consumption have grown strongly over the past fifteen years although in 2009/10 there has been significant reduction mainly due to a down turn in import access in to Russia. This reflects growing demand in Europe where kangaroo meat is considered a game meat. However, the increased supplies seem to have put downward pressure on kangaroo meat prices in constant dollar terms.

The major importing countries for kangaroo meat were the Russian Federation (74 per cent of the total volume in the three years to 2007), France (5 per cent), South Africa (4 per cent) and Germany (4 per cent). Kangaroo meat is mainly used in sausage making in the Russian Federation and is lower in quality and price than the prime cuts trade with countries like France and Germany.

Wallabies

Products: Meat, skins, furskins

Synopsis – Australian Industry

Commercial harvesting of wallabies is undertaken on Flinders Island and King Island in the state of Tasmania under formal management plans aimed at ensuring the sustainability of the harvest. With the new plans commencing in 2005-06, there are quotas for the harvest of Bennett’s wallaby (Macropus r. rufogriseus) and the Tasmanian Pademelon (Thylogale billardierii) on Flinders Island and of Bennett’s wallaby on King Island.

Both these species had been harvested in reasonably large quantities prior to 1986 (118 000 in 1983) but harvesting ceased until the late 1990s. More than 9000 wallabies were harvested in 2005-06 but this was much less than the combined quota of 34,750.

Links

• Kangaroo Industry Association of Australia (www.kangaroo-industry.asn.au).

• Department of Environment and Water Resources www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/trade-use/wild-harvest/kangaroo/stats.html,  information on the kangaroo industry, including quotas and numbers harvested.