Juliet Gellatley, director and founder of the British animal campaign group Viva!, will be hosting a media conference at 11.00 am, on Friday, July 13, 2001, in the Media Conference Room, Parliament House, Sydney. It will be chaired by the Hon. Richard Jones MLC, independent member of the NSW Legislative Council. At the conference, Ms Gellatley will launch materials for Viva!’s new international campaign against the killing of kangaroos for meat and leather. There will be a rally and photo opportunity at 12.30 pm on the same day outside the Australian Museum, College St/William St, Sydney city centre.

Ms Gellatley will be presenting a new and detailed report which examines the reasons used to justify the exploitation of kangaroos - and scientifically demolishes them. With over 40 references, Under Fire dismisses the claims that kangaroos are pests, that they compete for grazing with sheep and that their numbers are at plague proportions. The report states that the 2001 kill quota of 5.5 million seriously threatens the survival of the species. It concludes that the kangaroo is worth more alive than dead and that the self-interest and hype of the killing industry has obscured the kangaroo’s intrinsic value and its potential to earn $billions in tourist revenue.

Juliet Gellatley first aroused controversy in Australia when her group, Viva!, persuaded Tesco, Britain’s largest supermarket chain, to end the sale of kangaroo meat in 1997. Her visit to Australia in March 1998 created strong interest and on her return to the UK, Sainsbury’s and all other UK supermarkets followed Tesco’s lead and jettisoned ‘roo meat - 1,500 stores in total. She is now planning to create an alliance between Australian and European animal groups to further hit the sales of kangaroo meat and leather. She will announce important new international developments at the conference.

Two new posters and a four-page leaflet will also be launched on the day, together with a website - savethekangaroo.com. Viva! intends to build a coalition of groups in Europe and Australia to campaign against kangaroo slaughter and reduce the sale of meat and skins across the world. The report and campaign materials will be translated into several languages and will be used in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, South Africa and the US. Viva!’s Poland office will be working to reduce sales to Eastern Europe.

"Australia’s record for the destruction of wildlife is appalling - the worst in the world - and it has learnt nothing from its past mistakes", says Ms Gellatley. "It is allowing the meat industry to dictate the fate of a unique animal with policies which ignore science and encourage short-term greed. If Australians won’t act to protect the wildlife on this continent then Viva! will ensure the rest of the world does."

"Not one of the reasons given for killing kangaroos stands up to scientific examination, as our new report, Under Fire, shows. But it is cynicism polished to an art form to blame environmental destruction on kangaroos. Some other countries have realised the true value of their wildlife and have profited greatly from cherishing and protecting them. Australia, on the other hand, has turned its outback into a slaughterhouse by promoting a barbaric, red-necked killing bonanza which is destroying the ecological balance and threatening the long-term survival of many species. Viva!’s message is simple - you’ve destroyed enough species, now’s the time to start protecting them."

The Australian Museum was chosen for the rally in order to highlight the ‘intellectually threadbare’ plan of its director, Michael Archer. Entitled FATE (The Future of Australia’s Terrestrial Ecosystems), the plan maintains that killing wildlife is the only way to save it. Juliet Gellatley, who has a degree in zoology, concludes: "Quota systems have been a disaster just about everywhere they’ve been tried. By the time this becomes obvious to everyone in Australia, it will be too late for the kangaroos".

For further information please contact Richard Jones in Sydney on 61-2-9230 2858; Juliet Gellatley in the UK on 001144 1273 777688; or Rheya Linden on 0438 360 283. Copies of Under Fire, the report into kangaroo killing, and campaign materials will be available at the conference.