Our ultimate aim is to make the Australian Government realise that the kangaroo – their national emblem - is an animal that should be cherished and not blasted off the face of the Earth. By targeting our campaign towards the $70 billion (Aus) a year tourism industry, we want the message to come across loud and clear that visitors to Australia want to see the kangaroos in the wild and that potential tourists are horrified to hear that this iconic marsupial is being hunted to the point of extinction.

As potential tourists we hold the purse strings. We have the power to make things change.

Could eco tourism be the answer?

The answer is a resounding yes. We want Australia to turn its back on the barbaric kangaroo meat and skin industry. By investing in non-intrusive ecotourism, giving international tourists the opportunity to see kangaroos in the wild during outback safaris, they can really bring prosperity to rural communities and support wildlife. In ‘Rangeland Kangaroos: A World Class Wildlife Experience’ [Download Summary PDF] Dr David Croft laments that “[Australia has] … failed to capitalise on big mobs of kangaroos in the vast outback as one of the world’s great wildlife experiences. Rural Communities are being deprived of tourism income while the focus is on contentious management of kangaroos for skins and hides.”

Dr Croft argues Australians should recognise the “intrinsic qualities” of kangaroos, and that “large populations are both desirable and valuable”. The Sun Herald (a Sunday newspaper in Australia) recently stated that the population of country areas is declining dramatically. It said that by 2006, country areas will be home to only 12% of New South Wale’s population. Clearly the kangaroo ‘cull’ is doing nothing to reinvigorate the Australian countryside. Dr Croft, however, suggests that wide scale kangaroo based eco-tourism could create “more jobs for both sexes in rural communities”.

Eco-tourism on this scale has worked before – and is working now. In Africa, game-viewing has proved to be much more valuable than cattle/sheep farming. Yet, In Australia, outback safaris account for only around 3% of tourist activity – despite the fact that these tourists spend twice the average and considerably more in other outdoor activities such as scuba diving. It is therefore astonishing that this obvious potential is relatively underused or remains entirely untapped. Australian politicians are well aware of the power of the kangaroo as an icon to sell tourism to those overseas – a report for the Parliament of Victoria into Ecotourism mentions that "Such icons are strongly linked with our national image and are at least partially responsible for tourism income of hundreds of millions of dollars". The same report notes the incredible potential for ecotourism by discussing a submission to the committee that estimates the conservation industry could create "A combined value of ... $10 billion with an annual turnover of $5 billion per annum. It would employ 60,000 people. It would earn Australia $100 billion per annum in wildlife tourism. It would be worth as much to Victoria as its whole primary production combined." However, whilst Australia seems happy to reap the initial fruits of ecotourism – and is more than happy to use its national icon to promote tourism as a whole – there is a stubborn refusal to view the kangaroo as anything more than ‘pests’. This same report even muses the ‘benefits’ of encouraging visitors from overseas to come to Australia and shoot kangaroos!

We want to convince Australia that the eyes of the world are watching them. No longer will they be able to promote tourism with the image of the kangaroo – whilst in the hidden depths of the outback blasting these gentle creatures and their babies into extinction – without potential tourists knowing that this supposedly progressive country harbours the largest wildlife massacre on the planet today. Once this shame is exposed we want them to come to their senses and end the kangaroo cull. Help us make this happen.