macropodlady, I usualy defer to govt publications for my information. They are the ones responsible for the allocating of quota, issuing of tags, and the ones that actually put people up in aeroplanes to establish numbers, and food supplies. https://www.epa.qld.gov.au/nature_conservation/wildlife/native_animals/permits_and_licences/kangaroo_harvesting/

My general impression of parks and wildlife employees is that they are very officious in their protection of wildlife and habitat, and would not authorise culling for any other reason than that protection.

http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/trade-use/publications/kangaroo/pubs/2007-commercial-harvest-quotas.pdf
http://www.dfat.gov.au/facts/kangaroos.html
http://www.rirdc.gov.au/pub/kangaroo5yr.html

Greenies actually support roo harvest it seems, greenpeace (supported by some on this forum for their integrity) reportedly support and encourage roo consumption.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22562480-662,00.html

"Where is this overpopulation?" Exactly, it doesn't exist partly because of judicious and planned culling. The alternative question is where isn't the purported underpopulation?

I enjoy kangaroo in all its forms. It is a strong, gamey meat, like venison but I do not find it too smelly as some posters have observed.

MaggieS” It is both controversial and deeply problematic for mainstream environmentalists and totally unacceptable to animal liberationists such as myself.”

Who cares, the thing is what you “mainstream environmentalists” and “animal liberationists” do not understand is, relative to the entire population, you are not mainstream at all

Now I respect your right not to eat meat but this little mainstream meat eater expects you to respect my right to enjoy Skippy as sausage, burger, steak, roast and mince, not to the exclusion of Percy pig, Larry the lamb, Clarissa the cow, Henrietta the hen and of course good old Donald duck

“It should be shut down immediately, the sooner the better.”

That just ain’t gonna happen

and even if you try a program “civil disobedience” (like other criminal actions normally associated with so called ‘animal liberationists’), you will find a lot of people like me can be quite “disobedient” too and not averse to inflicting some 'retribution'.

Koalagirl “By the way yes I am a vegetarian and for a dam good reason.”

I am a meat eater for a lot of good reasons too, not least, I like the taste.

You are entitled to be a vegetarian and I am entitled not to be so.

We will get along fine unless you try to impose your view on me.

For goodness sake vegos and animal liberationists! ’roo meat DOESN'T necessarily mean indiscriminate culling. There is such a thing as farming the critters like cloven hooved animals only with less damage to the environment.
As for where is the overpopulation? Strewth! Ask any grazier what happens after a big rain and the fodder starts to regrow. A virtual plague‘roos can control their foetal development for just such times.
Australia being what it is (and will be more so with climate change), after a time of plenty comes the dry again. The realistic result is (nature unintended) unsustainable competition for food with and without stock creating (unnecessary) animal suffering.
Comparing kangaroo numbers with pre settlement is absurd reality dictates there is just not the room available to sustain those numbers. We have irrevocably changed the environment the trick is not making it worse.
Love the cuddlies is one thing but simply look at the man made disaster of uncontrolled koala numbers on Kangaroo Island.
Another reality is that MOST people eat meat therefore the sensible decision is ‘what is the most appropriate food animal to stock?’. Cloven hooved animals and their farming HAS caused environmental damage so it seems logical to exploit that which is less so eg native animals. Aust top soil is inches thick on average not meters like Europe and prior to whitey there were NO cloven hooves here (nature deigned our fauna to suit).
Previously I emphasised that ‘roos are appropriate for Aust and maybe not elsewhere.
The only other solution is to look a 21st century civilization and populations (fat chance of that). Idealism is desirable as is development but excesses in either is counter productive.
We can have an acceptable environment and the 21st century but we must be intelligent about it not excessively emotional.

Grey kangaroos begin to leave the pouch at around 6 months of age. They weigh around 1.5kgs when they first venture out - and they are dependant on their mums until they are 18 months old. Red Kangaroos leave their mums pouch at an earlier age - and are dependant on their mums until they are 12 months old. If mum is killed while her joey is out of the pouch - then that joey WILL suffer a very long, very frightening, and very distressing death... There is no possibility that such a joey will survive unless someone finds them and hands them in. But even then, in WA, it is illegal to rehabilitate a joey who's mum has been culled.
I have been looking after such joeys for 8 years - and when you hold them in your arms, when you understand their terror and their grief....maybe only then, you will understand that the kangaroo meat industry is an appalling indictment on the morals of kangaroo cullers and the people who eat kangaroo meat.

Yes rojo, I have read those government publications and others as well.
However, I don't believe everything the government tells me and I investigate further. Some sites that might be of interest to you are:
http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/sts/bmartin/pubs/92habitat.html
http://www.kangaroo-protection-coalition.com/kangaroos-hoser.html
http://www.awpc.org.au/kangaroos/book_files/preservationofourmacropods.htm

For another perspective by people and scientists that will not make any money from kangaroos or need political votes try:
http://www.wildlifeprotectaust.org.au
http://www.kangaroo-protection-coalition.com

Books worth reading:
Kangaroos Myths and Realities by Maryland Wilson & David E Croft
Silencing Dissent - How the Australian Government is controlling public opinion and stifling debate by Clive Hamilton & Sarah Maddison

And for Bugsy- As well as the above you might be interested in another scientists view of what we can do with our kangaroos:

http://www.wildlifetourism.org.au/downloads/2006_awtc_abstracts.pdf
http://www.crctourism.com.au/CRCBookshop/Documents/16croftdoc3.pdf

The way that Kangas are slaughtered and transported makes them unsuitable for eating. I have tried with my pets on roo meat, it was so high in protein that their kidneys failed. I am now a wildlife carer (not for roos) but I am aware of how much energy people put into raising them and how intelligent and lovely they are. They are VERY social animals with complex family relationships.
I have to mention that they are not breeding much this season. Perhaps culling has sent them a message.
Let us not lose our national icon.
If you think I am a nutter you should google what happened to the passenger pigeon. Ecology is complex and fragile. People are out there trying with hands tied by bureacracy. Wildlife carers are volunteers - we can advocate for animals but at the end of the day we are just doing triage in a war zone.