It has often been suggested that kangaroo farming is a more
sustainbale industry than the traditional use of marginal land ofr
sheep and cattle husbandry. please explain the practical steps which
can be taken to develop an environmentally-sustainable kangaroo
farming business enterprise.

please give me the explanation and reasons for each action step that
you suggest.

I only need about 5 steps and reasons to support your ideas. pls
answer in 2 days

<The practical steps needed to develop an environmentally sustainable
kangaroo farming commercial enterprise are as follows:

1. Providing a suitable environment.
The kangaroos would need sufficient space, shelter, food and water. A
suitable location for kangaroo farming would be the rangelands (the
central arid part of Australia). High fences would need to be
installed around the land to contain the kangaroos and keep out
predators. All sheep would need to be removed to eliminate grazing
competition and to reduce damage to plants. Sheep have hard hooves
which damage plants whereas kangaroos have soft pads. The quality of
the natural food supply would need to be assessed with food
supplements being administered in cases where there are deficiencies
in particular vitamins and minerals. An adequate water supply would be
needed as kangaroos are particularly susceptible to drought.

2. Controlling diseases.
Effective disease control would need to be implemented to particularly
control diseases like lumpy jaw and coccidiosis.

3. Managing breeding.
Sustaining breeding populations would be achieved by selecting only
non-dominant males for slaughter as only the dominant male will mate
with all the females in a mob. The other males serve no useful purpose
in breeding  so it is not economically viable to keep them alive.
Maintaining low male populations also has the benefit of reducing
aggressive behaviour.

Care would also be needed to manage gene pools to prevent inbreeding
that would result in physical abnormality.

4. Providing suitable transport and herding methods.
Kangaroos cannot be transported live to slaughter houses. This means
that carcasses must be stored in chillers.

An effective way of herding kangaroos would need to be found so that
they can be rounded up for slaughter, pest control and veterinary
treatment.

5. Increasing economic viability.
The growth of the kangaroo meat industry would need to be encouraged.
The promotion of products would be needed to create greater demand and
higher prices. In particular the negativity of animal rights groups
who are particularly vocal in condemning kangaroo farming would need
to be counteracted.>


<Additional links:>

<Parliament of Australia – Commercial Utilisation of Australian Native
Wildlife.>
<http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/rrat_ctte/wild/WLChap9.htm>

<Farming kangaroos in Australia.>
<http://www.geocities.com/galah_aus/water/kanga/kanga.html>

<Kangaroo Industry Association.>
<http://www.kangaroo-industry.asn.au/>

<Report from viva – an animal rights organisation.>
<http://www.viva.org.uk/Viva!%20Campaigns/ExoticMeat/Kangaroo_Report4.htm>

<Search strategy:>
<"kangaroo farming" environment>

<://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&as_qdr=all&q=%22kangaroo+farming%22+environment>

<"kangaroo farming" government report>
<://www.google.com/search?q=%22kangaroo+farming%22+government+report&hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&as_qdr=all>

<Hope this helps.>

---

Request for Answer Clarification by blakepiper-ga on 24 Oct 2002 01:54 PDT

Tks for the answer belindaleve

I like you 5 steps plan.. could you please provide more reasos, or
evidences that support your ideas? I need more information about your
5 steps.. TKS pls answer me ASAP tks very much

---

Clarification of Answer by belindalevez-ga on 24 Oct 2002 07:22 PDT

<1. Environment
A kangaroos diet consists of native shrubs and grasses. They are not
able to digest dried grasses or fibres well which means the most
effective way of farming them is to keep them on their native ground.
The Sturt National Park websites give details of the environments of
the common species of kangaroo.

Grazing by sheep and cows has a detrimental effect on the natural
plant life in Australia. Both cows and sheep which destroy the ground
with their hooves. In addition when they feed on grass, they rip it
out of the ground. Kangaroos are more environmentally friendly as they
nibble the grass which allows the plant to survive.

2. Diseases.
Links are given below to sites where more can be learnt about kangaroo
diseases.

3. Breeding 
There are 6 species of kangaroo. They belong to a group of animals
called macropods. They are marsupials which means they give birth to
semi-developed young. The young are called joeys and remain in their
mother’s pouch for up to 10 months. A mother kangaroo will often be
pregnant, have one joey in her pouch and have another in her care
outside of the pouch. Joeys are usually dependant on their mothers for
up to 12 months.

Females are reproductively mature at age 18-24 months and males at 36
months. Dominant males are usually around 10 years old. Since it takes
so long for males to become dominant, the younger males can be
slaughtered for meat and a few dominant males retained for breeding
purposes.

Breeding of kangaroos is directly influenced by the availability of
food and water.

Some kangaroos have breeding seasons whilst others breed all year. 

4. Kangaroos have to be slaughtered in their natural environment as it
is not possible to transport them live. In order to keep the meat
fresh the carcasses need to be transported in chillers to processing
plants.

High fences are needed to stop them escaping. A kangaroo can jump six
feet high. So the fences need to be at least this height. They also
need to be able to keep out predators like dogs. The stress of being
harassed by a barking dog is enough to kill kangaroos.

Kangaroos are notoriously difficult to catch. A system of fences to
channel them to a particular area can be used. Alternatively they can
be trapped in a shed.

Handling them to transport them live is virtually impossible as they
can kick and box.

5. Increasing economic viability.
 Kangaroo meat has a similar taste to beef and is particularly low in
fat and cholesterol.  These features of kangaroo meat can be used to
further promote it  in today’s health conscious environment.

In recent years there have been a number of food scares in Europe
including BSE, dioxin and  Britian’s foot and mouth epidemic. This has
prompted more people to search for alternative meats. With each food
scare there has been a rise in demand for kangaroo meat.

Various animal rights groups have mounted campaigns to try to
discourage people from eating kangaroo meat. They tend to use emotive
photographs of abandoned joeys.>


<Additional links:>

<Courtship and mating.>
<http://rubens.anu.edu.au/student.projects/kangaroos/court-mate.html>

<Roos and wallabies.>
<http://www.geocities.com/csean_au/kangaroos.htm>

<Kangaroos of Sturt National Park.>
<http://bioscience.babs.unsw.edu.au/rootourism/Kangaroo%20guide.pdf>

<Animal liberation.>
<http://www.animalliberation.org.au/comkang.html>

<Boom for alternative meats.>
<http://www.meatnews.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=article&artNum=1813>

<Blindness in kangaroos.>
<http://www.ava.com.au/content/avj/9908/99080514.pdf>

<Diseases in kangaroo meat.>
<http://www.geocities.com/awpc/kangaroos/diseases.htm>

<Advice on catching kangaroos.>
<http://users.chariot.net.au/~wwo/veterinary.html>

<Hope this helps.>

the answer is great. Tks very much