Look spanky we have more roos in this country than any other species apart from flies and mozzies,and most people here couldn't give a sh!t about them , nobody is going to manage them so this whole debate is pointless . We have nore important things to ocupy our time, when we get too many we shoot em, and if they look like going extinct we will stop OK,

Spanky, howzit. In this case mostly the urban areas were there first. Roo's dont have that long a life span, plus they have certainly benefited from white farming practices since settlement......

relocation such as you suggest is not currently viable with the volume of population that is currently the issues. Its not a bad idea in itself, apart from the fact that roo's ARE territorial (the males anyway), and that you have to gain the acceptance of those whose are that you are moving them too - bear in mind that there are many species of roo, and not all are suitable to every habitiat in Oz.

A client of mine comes to mind. He caught some park rangers on his property (without permission), about to release some rock wallabies that had overpopulated another area. His comment..... WAIT, I'LL BE BACK IN A MINUTE - with my gun!! Well, the little buggers would have raided his already lean grain crop for the year!

The issue is balance, and roo's are one animal that has adapted well to settled farming - thriving where they once would have been reasonably scarce. Until we come up with a way to effectively turn them to profit, culling will be the only option in some cases

Spanky,

" hunting farms are (excuse the pun) making a killing in South Africa, for tourists."

Thats a terrific idea, do you know how much the tourists will pay?

Rojo,
As a matter of fact, I do. The game farmers charge in the region of R120 000.00 for a lion shot, R80 000.00 for buffalo and the menu goes on and on, a journalist went under cover to one of these farms and part of a group of hunters from the USA, she witnessed the hunter pick out a prize lion, the lion is then put into a steel bar cage and the hunter very proudly takes aim and plugs the lion between the eyes, this is what we all know as "canned hunting", this happens with lionesses also in a cage with her cubs standing beside her. The hunters wife clicking away with her camera. We humans are just deranged and in urgent need of psychiatric help.
Spanky.

Alanpoi,
Please note that there are other people who are indeed interested and in many ways concerned for both the drought and the roos, people who have money and pulling power read these threads, or has this perhaps flown over your head? Its threads like these that keep people in tune with what others think around the world and maybe, just maybe there may be a person out there reading this particular thread and have enough gumption to possibly lead a campaign of some sorts to assist you guys and gals over there, not just with the roo story but with other issues that may also be as just and important as the drought you people are experiencing, please excuse me for trying!
Spanky

spanky says

"there may be a person out there reading this particular thread and have enough gumption to possibly lead a campaign of some sorts to assist you guys and gals over there,"

Spanky you have found that person. I am personally organising and funding one of the biggest roo sporting shoots ever seen in Australia. We are leaving this weekend from Sydney armed to the teeth with guns, rifles, dogs, knives and even spears. We hope to make a real difference to the number of roos in some of the affected areas. After all, its for their own good. We also hope to leave a very small environmental footprint. All 57 (so far) 4wd's will be required to keep to formed trails. I will be buying carbon offsets for all fuel used and gunpowder exploded. I think one or two of the 4wd's may even run on biodiesel (not bad huh). I'm a bit worried about all the gunpowder we will be burning though. Maybe next year we will insist on only using non-incendiaries like knives, spears and arrows. Although this often leads to many more injuries in the quarry.

Hoping to make a real difference...