The impact of animals on the environment : should we be switching to kangaroos and, if so, how could we? A paper to stimulate discussion : the McClymont lecture for 2002

Abstract

The long-term ecological and economic sustainability of what we now call the sheep rangelands probably depends upon finding a less damaging alternative to sheep. If you were to design the perfect grazing animal for our semi-arid rangelands, it would be one that returns a good profit at stocking rates that are ecologically benign. Neither sheep nor goats qualify but, with better marketing, I believe that kangaroos are not far from that perfection. In this paper I describe in some detail how a new generation of kangaroo growers might operate, not farming them, but taking a selective, regulated, harvest from the free range populations. I identify current problems and suggest solutions, and provide suggestions about how the increase in price for the product could be achieved.