Save the Kangaroos

- Editorial -

As the seal hunt debate nears its end, conservation groups have mobilized around another animal slaughter of equally horrendous dimensions. Every year, 6 millions kangaroos are killed in Australia. Like the seal hunt, the kangaroo hunt is often extremely cruel and threatens to deplete several species. But in the case of the kangaroos, the United States has a major role in determining the extent of the hunt.

Some 3 million kangaroos are killed legally each year in Australia; illegal killings are thought to double that amount. After butchering - often in squalid conditions - kangaroo meat is sold in Australia, Europe and the United States both as pet food and for human consumption. The soft, lightweight leather made from the animal's hide is used for athletic shoes, handbags, wallets, and golf bags. Curio items such as kangaroo paw can openers, rugs, letter openers and kangaroo hide postcards also sell well.

American importation of kangaroo products was banned in 1974, when red, eastern gray and western gray kangaroos were placed on the U.S. government's list of endangered species. But in 1981 the Interior Department's Fish and Wildlife Service, pressured by the Australian government and the leather processing industry, lifted the import ban for a two-year trial period. The opening of the American market, the largest kangaroo importer worldwide, has caused the level of both legal and illegal killings to skyrocket.

The vast wilderness terrain of the kangaroo makes the animal an easy target for unlicensed hunters, and Australia has shown it cannot maintain its 3 million annual quota for commercial harvesting. Despite this, the U.S. Interior Department has proposed the three endangered kangaroo breeds be dropped from its threatened species list, and the import ban be permanently lifted. Ron Lambertson, director of the department's endangered species program, answers critics of the proposal with the Australian government's claim that because of conservation measures, the animals are no longer in danger of extinction.

But Australian conservationists disagree with government estimates there are 19 million kangaroos: they say there could be fewer than 10 million. If the United States opens trade doors on a permanent basis, the result could be the depletion of all three species.

Greenpeace along with more than 35 Australian and American conservation groups, has committed itself to ending the kangaroo slaughter. Plans are being made for a direct action campaign to be staged in the fall, reinforced by an ongoing education and public awareness campaign.

You can begin your direct action now. Congressman Robert Mrazek is sponsoring a resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives that forbids the importation of all kangaroo and wallaby species. The bill needs more sponsors if it is to stand up to Australian lobbying efforts. Please write to your representatives and let them know how you feel about this issue.