Interesting article – at least it made some effort to present multiple perspectives. Although I’m vegetarian myself, I am ethically much less troubled by the ‘harvesting’ of kangaroos for meat than I am by beef and sheep consumption in Australia. It is sustainable and very carefully regulated in its current form, though who knows what increased demand would bring? Hopefully the iconic status of the kangaroo will mean that there is consistent pressure on the management agencies from the public to maintain sustainable practices.

Full disclosure: As a graduate student I did a research project on kangaroo harvesting and management. These opinions are all my own, but I did receive a scholarship with minor contributions from several interest groups at the time.

My father-in-law has a sheep property and killing kangaroos has the duel purpose of protecting his fences and feeding his sheep dogs. One day after a kill, my daughter found a joey in the pouch of its dead mother. It weighed 800gm and looked like a skinned rabbit. My daughter scooped it up and wrapped it in an old sweater. The men all said we were crazy, it was kindest to knock it on the head as it would probably die anyway. That was three years ago. “Josie” has enriched our lives with her special antics and her gentle curiosity. We obtained a license to rear her with the expectation that she would join one of several mobs of kangaroos not far from our home. We are sure that Josie has met many of them, but she has chosen to stay with us, at least for the time being.

You can’t imagine how blessed we feel to get up every day and see her furry, petite face, her beautiful big black eyes and her ongoing grooming tactics and kangaroo behaviour. She has taught us so much. We look forward to the day when a little furry head appears from her pouch although it may never happen. If we had knocked her on the head as was suggested at the time, life would have been much easier,(five feeds a day and two pouch liner changes), much cheaper (Divetalax cost a fortune) and much cleaner (messy floor and chewed up papers, clothes, etc). But we wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Sorry to get off the topic but kangaroo meat has never been and will never be on my dinner plate.

Ooo, that’s a really close one. I’ve never really eaten too much kangaroo meat, but a colleague of mine swears by it for both its taste and nutrient value. I’ve heard it’s got good value in conjugated linoleic acid, though there has been some bad press about this recently too (http://www.news-medical.net/?id=21608).

I believe however, that there is a moral debate over farming any animals for “food”. It would seem “unnatural”. But I guess the world today is full of so many things which are unnatural and traditionally obtuse. Who would have ever thought sitting on a computer for eight hours a day would become the norm for millions of Australians.

For me, it’s a matter of perspective. There are apparently good and bad things about eating kangaroo; so without trying to cause any controversy, because Mariana, obviously events leading up to your decision are very different to mine, I will continue to consider eating kangaroo, but not for any other reason than for variety of meat. I don’t think the next time I consider kangaroo for dinner I will debate the “environmental” impact kangaroos have.

Mariana, it’s good to hear Josie has made such a positive impact on your life.

Thanks Paul. I guess I am a bit emotional about the topic, however I understand that populations need to be controlled and so their meat and skin may as well be used for a purpose.

Cindy, thanks for your input – and also your integrity in including the disclosure.

Paul, as well as environmental reasons, kangaroo is looking like a very healthy meat. In comparison to beef and dairy, it’s not only low in fat in general, but more specifically it’s low in saturated fat. It’s also quick to cook, so suits our modern lifestyles.

Mariana, thank you for telling us about Josie. When I went out to Broken Hill in April we were lucky enough to meet a woman who rears baby kangaroos, who’s mothers have been killed on the roads. Being that close to one of these babies and being able to touch it, was something I shall always treasure.

It all comes back to the attitudes we have to the things we eat. Are animals simply food that we have a right to utilise in whatever way we see fit, for our own needs. How to ethical and moral responsibilities fit in there? If we’re concerned about animal welfare, where does an environmental concern fit in?

I should also re-state in this that I personally am a vegetarian. I do eat dairy and cheese, but no fish, meat or chicken. This is my personal decision about food. While I don’t eat meat or fish, I do explore these topics on Limes & Lycopene, because L&L is about health and diet in general, not my personal food choices.

I’m really interested now in this. I think I’m going to take up a little bit of research into kangaroo meat as a nutrition source and the wider environmental concerns of ‘harvesting’…

Cindy, is the research you conducted publicly published at all?

Paul, I’d be really interested to know what your research turns up.

Sorry to return so late in the piece, but I’ve been away on holiday!

Paul, I have one paper published in the academic literature but it’s a mathematical/statistical analysis rather than an exploration of the ethical, environmental or nutritional issues surrounding kangaroo meat. Before kangaroo harvest quotas are set, the population size is estimated via aerial survey. Mathematical models of rainfall, food supply and kangaroo reproduction are used to predict how various harvest quotas are likely to impact on the population before an actual quota is decided and carried out. I was involved in integrating the survey data and population models.

For a broader range of information, you might like to visit this government site. Obviously they’re pro-harvest but most of the material is factual and not too value-laden. Use your own judgement!

I’d particularly recommend the report “Commercial Harvesting of Kangaroos in Australia” by Pople and Grigg. They’re university-based researchers (so hopefully not too biased by government policy) and you’ll notice the disclaimer running along the bottom, “The views expressed in the document are the views of the authors and may not represent the views of the State and Commonwealth Governments.”

Good luck on your search, Paul! I commend your interest in researching where your food comes from.

Thanks a lot for following up on that Cindy.

Thanks Cindy and thanks Kathryn for updating me on Cindy’s post.

Paul