A mother kangaroo, grooming her beautiful joey at night in the vast wild outback, hears the sound of a four wheel drive and stands transfixed, sensing danger. Searchlights blind her. A hunter takes aim. She falls in pain, helpless to save her joey who retreats into her pouch. This is the fate of Australia’s national emblem.
The killing of Australia’s kangaroos constitutes the biggest land wildlife massacre in the world, surpassed only by the decimation of the American bison in the 1800s. In its investigation, including three trips to Australia by myself, Viva! has made a series of discoveries which are amongst the most distressing it has ever come across. Around 4 to 6 million kangaroos are earmarked for slaughter each year — at the same time there has been an overall drop of 12.6 million kangaroos in the areas where they are hunted.