A video released in Feb 2019 backs calls for current wastage to be minimised and the benefits of sustainable use of kangaroos realised. With colleagues from interstate, we are appalled at what has been allowed to happen. There has been strong political reaction to media interest in the state of outback fish and rivers. The response is driven by recognition of the value of the resource, not only cultural but also economic. There should be a similar concern about what …
Category: Recent Activities
An article in Canberra Times describes our paper in Australian Zoologist on the rise of kangaroo populations that then crash during droughts. It presents the case for sustainable population objectives and harvest.
When professional control diminishes, killing of kangaroos does not stop; amateur shooting increases. Kangaroos in drought starve through over population. Regulators cannot monitor the number of kangaroos killed nor ensure high standards of dispatch of animals. Kangaroo industry is taking only a tiny percentage of the population, and populations fluctuate due to drought. These are the findings of study by George Wilson and Melanie Edwards in an article published by the Royal Zoological Society of NSW on the topic of professional amateur kangaroo …
2018 Public Inquiry into the Impact of Industrial Scale Agriculture on Australia’s Ecosystems and Local Communities. George Wilson was invited to appear before the Tribunal in Brisbane on 27 October 2018. The Tribunal holds Public Inquiries and hears Ecological Justice Cases, brought on behalf of flora, fauna, ecosystems, bioregions and local communities around Australia. As a ‘citizen’s tribunal’ the Peoples Tribunal is not a government endorsed activity nor do any of its activities, decisions or recommendations have the force of …
Graziers are erecting kangaroo-proof fences around groups of properties and lowering kangaroo numbers through various means, most of which have poor animal welfare and biodiversity outcomes. George Wilson argues in a paper to the 2018 Australian Veterinary Association Annual Conference in Brisbane that a stronger kangaroo industry will reverse this trend, improve sustainability and reduce wastage. The kangaroo harvesting industry is currently declining largely due to animal rights campaigns. In recent years less than 20% of the annual quota has been …
The NSW Government has protected brumbies in the Kosciusko National Park. Brumbies numbers are already too high. The proposed management dangerously reckless policy that will escalate environmental impacts, increase costs of feral horse management, and put horses at risk of extreme suffering, according to members of the Ecological Society of Australia. Sign the NCC urgent petition to Premier Berejiklian calling on her to protect the iconic Snowy Mountains. I had the privilege of being in Ecuador recently. We visited Cotopaxi National Park. …
Lecture at University of Canberra on improving kangaroo management Friday 11 May, 11:30am – 12:30pm 1A21 (UC Theatre, next to Mizzuna Cafe) More details and a synopsis of talk at link
The fifth Australasian Emissions Reduction Summit 2018 was attended by George Wilson in Melbourne on the 1-2 May. The Summit brought together 550 delegates, MPs, corporate sponsors and project de velopers active in the carbon market. While there was a particular focus on energy efficiency and alternative energy generation, carbon farming activities were recognised as playing a critical role in contributing to Australia’s efforts to achieve 2030 emissions reduction target of 26-28% on 2005 levels. After the first five Emissions Reduction …
AWS prepared papers for a workshop on 15th March 2018 convened by the Maranoa Kangaroo Harvesters and Growers Cooperative (MKHGC) at Mitchell in Qld. The Cooperative, which was established in 2007 with financial support from the National Landcare Program and the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, in 2017 MKHGC received further support from the Australian Government Farming Together Program. The Cooperative exists because kangaroos, and some other native wildlife, have long competed with agricultural production and grazing systems. Through regional …
Kangaroo harvesting is not a commercial option for landholders, resulting in greater animal rights issues for the kangaroos that are culled on private land. In an article in Australasian Science, George Wilson argues that because animal rights campaigners are achieving their aim of reducing the demand for kangaroo products, there is an increase in animal suffering. Populations rise higher than the environment can support, and then crash. In recent years a lack of demand has meant that less than half the annual kangaroo quota for …