A tale of slaughter.For facts please go to www.kangaroo-protection-coalition.com

Australia icon is being killed four times faster than its

reproducing.All for the leather trade for up market sports shoes.The

two main importers of this leather are the USA and Italy. Nike,Reebok

and Addidas use this leather.

I'm Sorry this is happening. Obviously, when I by a pair of shoes here in the USA, the shoes don't come with a label that says "Made with slaughtered roo skin." I thought all tennis shoes came from China made from....made from...hay-who knows what they're made from?!

Great photo.

Thank you for the information. I did not know that. Great image. Beautiful animals.

You really seem to have connected with these two.

Me neither. Thanks for sharing that info, knowing which this picture becomes even more powerful. Very nicely done and best wishes

Great shot, Birte. Good tones and composition. I like it very much. Max A and best wishes.

And from the frog to this. Thanks for the insight. I had know idea. Great picture-sad story. Jim Tipton

Hi again Birte.....And we Australian's love the meat!

Not all Aussies love the meat,it goes to pet food also.The meat is only a by product of the leather trade.If you are one of the idiots that eat the meat I hope you continue to do so.Kangaroo meat was the cause of the first outbreak in Australia of toxoplasmosis which is potentially fatal to humans , a number of people have contracted this due to eating the meat.If you want to know the facts and educate yourself, which you properly don,t.Go to

www.kangaroo-protection-coalition.com

This photo makes me hungry, mate!

Hello Birte, I don't want to enter this emotive debate but readers might like to visit http://www.dfat.gov.au/facts/kangaroos.html for the Australian government's view on the trade in kangaroo meat and skins. The eastern grey kangaroo, which I believe is depicted here, is not endangered but in fact exists in very large numbers, even within the Australian Capital Territory where I live. As your image demonstrates beautifully, they are very cute, as are many animals that are slaughtered for their meat and skins. This is a fabulous image of our iconic mascot. Margo.

Sorry to disappoint you MARGO.I went down to specifically photograph these roos outside Canberra.Two days after I got home I had a phone call telling me that 460 of them had been slaughtered.The trouble is that most Aussies are very ill informed about just what is going on.Since when do you believe what the government tells you!

Birte, when you look at the government's website you'll see that it confirms what you've said ... kangaroo hides and meat are exported. A little more research on the recent slaughter in Canberra, too, will show that these particular animals were starving and putting at risk other species of native flora and fauna. I guess the main point to make is ... object to the commercial use of kangaroo products if you wish ... everyone is entitled to his or her view ... but the fact remains that this is not an endangered species. Margo

Wonderful image and good luck with Your kangaroo awareness campaign !

cheers Jana

Hi again Birte.......I don't want to get into a slinging match with you either.......but I don't appreciate anyone distorting the facts like you are in some of the information attached to your excellent photographs.

 

First....The native Australian's have been eating these tasties since time began....and they are still around?

 

Second....No I don't eat them anymore...I just don't have the need...but I can remember when our family of 12 was so poor we didn't have much choice. ( you would eat them too if you were hungry enough ). Besides, I have so many running around my lawn every night that are not bothering me...so I don't bother them.

 

Third....Having been around for a decade past a half century, maybe I am un-educated? Even though I have been a lecturer in the past....but one thing I have learned in all that time is.......I don't deal in double standards.

 

I don't embrace the latest technology and then offer comment to debunk it. The equipment you use to bring us your excellent photo's has been gathered from this wonderful giving planet and yet a lot of things have had to be sacrificed just so you can enjoy your folly. Next you'll be screaming out about the trees.....even though photography is notorious for it's use of paper!

 

Like the comment posted about your great 'cricket' photo......if you love animals so much, why do you destroy so many of them with your flash photography?

 

.....and....I usually don't check my spelling so sorry about the double 't' in pity in my previous post.

 

Please keep posting such wonderful photo's but if you want to persist with your crusader type comments, cop the criticism!

 

regards....steve

1..I have also lived over half a century plus some.

2..I too come from a large family who were poor,but we did not eat roos.

3..I would not eat a roo if I was hungry I am a vegetarian.

4..I don,t distort the facts.

5..I do scream about the trees and many other things.

6..I use a cavers head torch for my macro and frog photography.

7..I used to teach environmental science at our university.

8..I use recycled paper where its possible.

9..My work is used for educational material not for my folly.

As of 2008, kangaroo populations have never been as low as they are now.New commercial areas for shooting them have been opened up because the large kangaroos have been shot out in most areas.South Australia have very few left.In 2008 new commercial shooting areas are being proposed from Bathurst to Mudgee to Musselbrook because the shooters have run out of roos in other areas.We are at the moment campaingning to stop these new zones being opened up.There is no refuge for our native anywhere.In spite of many years of repeated attempts by us to get the state and federal government to stop shooting roos before they disappear, they are deaf to our pleas,and the refusal of the government to act is properly the last nail in the kangaroos coffin...Our advice to the kangaroo shooters is to sell your guns while there still is a market,go buy a good camera and take tourists out to see our kangaroos while there still are a few left.Another little known fact is also that Australia has one of the worst environmental records in the western world...Now I am not going to discuss this any more,but I hope people will wake up to whats happening before its too late.

Hi Birte.....You removed your last 'slaughter' photograph....why.... Was it because you didn't want anyone else to see my final and concluding remarks?

I could post them here again but I won't.

 

Like you, I too find great joy in the natural wonders of this magnificent planet but also realize too that to be where we are today enjoying all the modern trappings of life, some collateral damage and destruction is the price we all must pay. Only those still living in caves with meager belongings can claim the right to having minimal impact on the destruction of this planet. All the rest of us are as guilty as the next, whether you are a photographer....a roo shooter....a politician or a monk.

 

Again, your photographs are a pleasure to behold....simply that you have taken them in such stunning detail is enough...without the crusade.

 

Best regards....steve

No I don,t care if anyone sees it, I am just tired of this continuous onslaught.We have different opinions, lets just leave it at that.