Like humans, kangaroos must prepare for a dark future. Symbol of Australia, the marsupial poses a major environmental problem to the gigantic country because of its sawtooth reproduction cycle. Their numbers can reach tens of millions when fodder is plentiful after a good rainy season.
So, according to Dennis King of the Kangaroo Industry Association of Australia, the country is on the verge of a boom in the animal population. “After three years of La Niña on the East Coast, this is the perfect growth scenario for kangaroos for the next two years,” he predicts, referring to the atmospheric phenomenon that generated heavy rainfall in Australia. “The reproductive cycle is accelerating,” notes Dennis King. According to his estimates, the kangaroo population in Australia fell below 30 million after the terrible droughts of the early 2000s, but it has since rebounded and could soon exceed 60 million.
Corpses on the road
But when food runs out, kangaroos can be victims of massive carnage. “During the last drought, we estimated that 80% to 90% of kangaroos died in certain areas,” ecologist Katherine Moseby told AFP. “They enter the public toilets and eat the toilet paper. Or they lie on the roads, hungry, while their young try to feed themselves,” she continues.
According to Katherine Moseby, slaughtering kangaroos – and destining them for butchery and leather goods – would be both a charitable way to spare them excruciating suffering, and a means of controlling their population. “This limits the number of animals so that in the event of drought, there are no welfare problems,” says the ecologist. If we looked at them as a resource and managed them that way, we wouldn’t have the catastrophic deaths that we are experiencing. »
Kangaroo leather no longer has a good press
The Australian government protects the kangaroo, but the most widespread species are not in danger of extinction. This means that they can be hunted, subject to authorization, over most of the territory. Each year, up to five million kangaroos are slaughtered for their meat or hide.
Nevertheless, animal rights organizations denounce commercial slaughter as a “cruel slaughter” and have pressured the world’s major sportswear brands, such as Nike or Puma, to stop using kangaroo leather in their products. “Nike parted ways with its sole supplier of kangaroo leather in 2021 and will stop manufacturing any products with kangaroo leather in 2023,” a company spokeswoman said in March.
But campaigns to end the industry, however well-intentioned, are misleading, warns George Wilson, a leading expert in kangaroo population management. “They say it’s unethical. But it’s not ethical to let them starve to death,” he told AFP. “What would be cruel would be to do nothing,” he adds. An opinion shared by Katherine Moseby. “Stopping killing kangaroos for their hide or their meat will not bring any benefit,” she says. This will make matters even worse. »