I'm for Kanga meat! I think that the biggest problem with farming and selective breeding is that we would no doubt tend toward intensive practices which would tend to produce a less healthy meat, less efficiently, that puts us well on the way to the original problem.

The problem as always with wild meat is parasites and disease, all too easily overlooked, particularly by smaller harvesters. Rehctub might have insights on this...?

Rustopher.

Apologies to legitimate posters:

Whistler, if it has to be quick, your special interest group can probably have a toy parliament anytime, just like we had at school. Alternatively, given numbers, they could fight for representation on the only duly constituted one we have. This strategy has produced some success. Reconstituting the nation will take generations and your bland efforts steel me to resist the likely bland and ineffectual outcome.

Rustopher.

Belly,
For every intelligent shooter there are a legion of nongs. The laws are designed to catch the lowest common denominator.
I've seen some appalling sights, cruelty and carnage for the sake of carnage ....sport(sic).

MAX AND OTHERS
I'm in favour of harvesting the major species i.ie farming them.
Cloven hooves are destroying our fragile and marginal environments. Roos have evolved in this country their life cycle their (fertility is testament to that).
I over-see bush care an area and my records note that the population of roos and wallabies have been stable for at least 10 years. Pity about the cats,dogs, pigs, etc.

But the mighty $ speaks and farmers listen. Where's the market to exploit Roo meat has a definite flavour. We can't get the Yanks to eat Vegimite what hope of a wider market? Which set in concrete minded farmer is going to invest? in a beast that yields less edible meat per animal

Keep in mind poaching would be rife.

Disease control would be an issue. Pre whitey the roos in the wild were safe tucker but now?

Given the meat we're getting from beef is more and more 'marbled'(with fat) cholesterol etc, Farts, poo in ground smothering
pizza sized piles (hence we imported dung beetles). The cost per kilo
by comparison of body weight, environment I for one welcome the market increasing.

But as stated the Aussie pioneer spirit doesn't extend to anything new when it come to making a profit. Try and set up a public company with prospectus etc and see what I mean.

As a nation we only invest in a sure thing look at the dirth of home venture capital availability. Look at our inventions that had to go overseas to get off the ground. i.e. one of the major players in alt power sources in Kalifornia was originally Aust.

Our whole system is controlled by big business not as a conspiracy but because we the people are we the sheep.
The above is IMO only.

Please read the following website:

http:www.dfat.gov.au/facts/kangaroos.html

A "kangaroo industry," already exists and
exports meat to over 50 countries.
As well as fur, leather, et cetera.

Read and learn!

Hang on, how about having roo traps that are *hard* to get into? High fences essentially, but fencing an area that is lower than surrounding ground, hence harder to get out than in.

The difficulty of entry means diseased animals or those with a high parasite burden are excluded. The very best animals get back out to breed, against the ones we don't want, thus improving the breed.

Rustopher.

Max,
Contrary to some opinions here, farmers are probably the biggest gamblers we have in the business world. If there is a likelyhood of a quid in it they will try for it. Take, for example, the very large investment most grain farmers have in plant and equipment and the ammount of crop that is grown on marginal country where a good crop can only be expected every 8-10 years. Now that is a BIG gamble.

When roos become economic to 'farm' our farmers will do so. But at the moment the price is not high enough and there are a few practical obstacles to overcome.

Roos will not muster in mobs like cattle and sheep, they panic and scatter, so each roo has to be shot which is time consuming and costly. Then as one shoots more of the mob, the remainder get more wary and are harder to shoot (understandably). Fencing to keep them enclosed has to be very high and strong which is costly and then there are parasites. Roos get a flesh eating parasite which infect the muscle tissue and this makes a fair proportion of roos only suitable as pet food. I have forgotten the name of the parasite and the proportion that is rejected.

There are other issues as well, but one can see from the above that there are difficulties.

While it may sound a good idea, I cannot see it growing much more than at present in the foreseeable future.

Oh, in my view the impact of hard hooved animals on our enviroment is a bit of a furphy. I have seen wallaby tracks through the bush as compacted as hard as any cattle track.