Web Changes

This is where we'll announce the most recent additions to our web site. If you've visited us before and want to know what's changed, take a look here first.

 Updates and addition of information to fact sheets have been made. These reflect the completion of outstanding tasks, the incorporation of new research information and, most importantly, feedback from website users.

Press Releases

These are the press releases we've issued over the last year. You may want to search for topics by keyword.

          Stories about the use and abuse of the large kangaroos abound as their exploitation in a 3-million a year harvest for meat and skins remains rightly controversial. However, the value of the living entity in a 'watching wild kangaroos' tourism experience attracts less news. We were somewhat bemused to observe that the winning image of a recent "Nothing like Australia' contest by Tourism Australia was of camel-riding in Australia. This prompted a retort with small dose of humour published in the AWPC newsletter...read the article here.

Recent Events for Rootourism - The Kangaroo Trail

Launch of THINKK - a new and innovative think tank that has been established to undertake independent research and encourage public discourse on kangaroos in Australia. The principal of Rootourism is a member of the research advisory committee of THINKK and was proud to contribute to the 30 November launch at the University of Technology Sydney by way of one of the three congratulatory speeches. At the launch, the first two of a series of well-researched reports were released and these reflect favourably on the scholarship that THINKK invests in its mission.

The opening remarks of the speech were:

"The advocates and practitioners of the culling and harvesting of kangaroos are fond of drawing comparisons between the size of the human and kangaroo populations in Australia to emphasize the abundance of the latter. A figure of 50 million kangaroos (around two per person) is often used which is at the high end of the estimates for the commercial zones in the four states that allow kangaroo harvesting (the current estimate is about 27 million). There is also spin in this value since it is the sum of the populations of four species – eastern grey, western grey, red kangaroos and common wallaroos – not one like Homo sapiens. For comparison, the current sheep flock in Australia is 70 million. This is one of the lowest values for about a century and reflects a decade of drought, poor markets for wool and contentious welfare issues in wool production. The global population of sheep and their kind is about 7 billion. This reminds me of a refrain from a nursery rhyme – Mary had a little lamb. Its fleece was white as snow. In fact every Mary in the world has a little lamb and so do you and I! The rhyme continues – And everywhere that Mary went. The lamb was sure to go. This reminds us that sheep have been spread across all continents, except Antarctica, for the supply of meat and fibre to people. These enormous sheep populations remind us of how facile it is to suggest that kangaroo meat could replace sheep meat, especially at a value that also accommodates for lost wool production (see THINKK report Advocating kangaroo meat: towards ecological benefit or plunder? for a detailed analysis of this issue).

However, let’s return to the notion that there are about two kangaroos for every person in Australia and then explore who owns them. Effectively no one owns them but they are under the protection of the Crown. Betty Windsor is happy with her swans and devolves this responsibility to Australian governments, principally those of States and Territories and secondarily the Commonwealth (see THINKK report Shooting our wildlife: An analysis of the law and policy governing the killing of kangaroos. for a detailed analysis of this and other legal and policy issues). As these governments are the servants of the people then each of us has a responsibility for the protection and use of our kangaroos, and an obligation to express an informed opinion about these to government representatives."

The full text of the speech can be read here.

Industry consultation

• Rootourism is a proud supporter and member of Wildlife Tourism Australia. I recommend that you visit their website to further address your wildlife-watching needs in Australia.

Disclaimer: The information contained on this website has been prepared by rootourism^TM, a wildlife tourism information provider. The information is general only and does not purport to be comprehensive. The currency of the information is at the time of production only. New information and the correction of inaccuracies may be placed on this web site but there is no obligation to do so. The information is not intended to provide or make any recommendation on which you should rely – if you rely on this information then you do so at your own risk. The producers of this website exclude any liability for any error or inaccuracy in, or omissions from, the pages and any loss or damage which you or any other person may suffer. The producers do not necessarily endorse any company, product, service or organisation represented on the website.

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Last modified: 6/12/10