"In its commercially driven agenda, the kangaroo industry sees fear of mad cow and foot and mouth disease as a commercial opportunity.

"In fear of disease that may be contracted from eating cattle, European diners may be eager to turn to kangaroo steaks. But the promotion of kangaroo meat as the healthy alternative ignores instances where kangaroo meat has been identified as the most likely cause of cases of severe illness, and in one case, blindness.

"As long ago as 1996, Victorian veterinarians condemned the killing of kangaroos for human consumption, saying the meat is unhygienic and unacceptable. (Sunday Herald Sun 6/10/96). These concerns have been echoed by other specialists in veterinary disease.

"The kangaroo industry also promotes kangaroo meat as the environmentally friendly alternative to sheep and cattle. It has been supported in recent months by a grant from the Federal Government of $120,000 specifically for promotion and to answer criticisms.

"This Government support for the kangaroo industry position is astonishing. To produce the 1,700,000 tonnes of meat produced annually by cattle alone, the industry would have to kill the entire kangaroo population of Australia about 566 times each year. Kangaroos are not large animals, are slow to grow and have little meat on their bones. They can never replace sheep and cattle.

"If the kangaroo meat industry took off in a big way, it would soon eat itself out of existence.

"We must wonder why the Federal Government is promoting an industry which earns a small fraction of the dollars earned by the tourism industry. Rather than promoting the killing of kangaroos, whose flesh brings in just $1.50 a kilo, it should be promoting a world class wildlife experience through eco-tourism. Has it considered that tourists would flock to Australia to see large numbers of free ranging kangaroos in the wild and - and in doing so, make a real contribution to Australia's wealth?

"Is promoting one small industry more important than saving Australia's national symbol?

"Tonight and every night of the year, four wheel drives continue to criss cross the fragile soil of rangelands seeking the kill. Tonight and every night, 15,000 kangaroos will be shot. At least 15% will die slowly of wounds. Joeys will be torn from the pouch and clubbed to death - or die slowly of starvation.

"The escalating shooting of Australia's symbol for the skin and meat trade means that the preferred kill - the biggest and genetically strongest kangaroos - are dwindling in numbers. This may mean that the only Big Red kangaroo we'll be seeing soon will be on the tail of a Qantas jet. "

Note to Editors:

Viva!’s campaign against ‘exotic’ meats resulted in all major UK supermarkets withdrawing kangaroo meat from their shelves

Following the campaign, Juliet Gellatley was presented with the Australian Wildlife Protection Award in recognition of her contribution to the protection of Australian wildlife.