What I read
According to The Economist's "Roo barbs: The culling of kangaroos divides Australia" (2018), Australians remain deeply divided over whether to eat the kangaroo, which is a national icon, with a recent film displeasing both those who favour killing millions of kangaroos each year to provide food and leather, which boost local economies, and those who oppose such slaughter. Opponents argue that there are less kangaroos than reported in addition to health concerns about the cleanliness of the meat, which concerns have led to import bans from some states.
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My response
On my annual visits to Australia, with the next one in a couple of weeks, I usually have a kangaroo steak or two. As far as I know, it's not available in Thailand. I like the taste, which is a bit like a drier form of beef. I always get it from the same restaurant, and have never had any health problem as a result of eating it. I usually also buy some kangaroo jerky (dried meat in strips) to bring back for a Thai friend and his young son, both of whom like it. If kangaroos were an endangered species, I would not eat them, but I'm pretty sure that there is no shortage. Even if the reported numbers are higher than reality, the best estimates are probably about right, so killing a couple of million a year for meat and leather seems unlikely to do any harm. I'm not sure how popular kangaroo meat is in Australia, but the number of animals killed suggests that most Australians don't eat it, or at least not very much.
But as the article in The Economist suggests, the kangaroo, along with the emu, is a major design element on my country's coat of arms. I think its a much better choice for our national animal than the koala, which seems useless for anything except to look cute. Although the article says some people think that kangaroos are "cuddly," I've never thought of them that way. They are uniquely Australian, but can be as tall as a full grown man, and very strong. They don't seem any more cute to me than a cow or a pig, just differently designed by evolution. They are not something you'd want to hug, but then, I wouldn't want to hug a koala, either – those claws that are so useful for living in trees could probably inflict some serious wounds.
They are common in the part of Australia where my family live, so they were never all that special to me, unlike koalas, which are much rarer. My home area also has koalas, and I usually spot a few when I'm walking around my brother's property, where I stay on my visits to catch up with family. The koalas have problems because of their lifestyle and dependence on a specific type of gum tree, but no one would think of eating them. In fact, I believe that their meat is toxic to humans and most other predators.
But as the article in The Economist suggests, the kangaroo, along with the emu, is a major design element on my country's coat of arms. I think its a much better choice for our national animal than the koala, which seems useless for anything except to look cute. Although the article says some people think that kangaroos are "cuddly," I've never thought of them that way. They are uniquely Australian, but can be as tall as a full grown man, and very strong. They don't seem any more cute to me than a cow or a pig, just differently designed by evolution. They are not something you'd want to hug, but then, I wouldn't want to hug a koala, either – those claws that are so useful for living in trees could probably inflict some serious wounds.
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My question
Is there a good reason not to eat kangaroos or other tasty animals?
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Reference
- Roo barbs: The culling of kangaroos divides Australia. (2018, March 15). The Economist. Retrieved from https://www.economist.com/news/asia/21738928-are-they-pests-or-paragons-and-how-many-them-are-there-culling-kangaroos-divides
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ReplyDeleteI feel very surprise that people eat Kangaroo meat. Maybe it is a symbol animal of Australia. So I don't think people eat it. I do not agree with you. I do not think we should eat it. Although number of kangaroo are still very high but we will not know when it decrease. Maybe, in the future, kangaroo meat might be popular dishes and what if the country could not stop people to kill them. They might be extinction. This is serious issues because it animal can find only in Australia.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I found that Australia has with wide range of animals which cannot be found in other continents. I will go to study there and start within this year. I feel scary with poison animals, especially when I see a VDO Clip that Aussie find tarantulas or snakes in their houses. I hopes that what I see in social media is not true.
I'm pretty sure that if you live in a big city, you won't have to worry about the poisonous animals. When I was growing up, there were a lot of deadly snakes and spiders around, but we quickly learned which ones to avoid. The snakes were not actually that big a worry: they were more scared of us humans than we were of them,so they ran off when alerted to us. However, one of my sisters was once bitten by a poisonous snake: she accidentally stepped on it before it could escape, so naturally it bit her. Fortunately, she could get medical treatment very quickly, so she was fine, although without treatment, she would have been in serious danger.
DeleteI think because we grew up with them, and knew that some were not dangerous, I've never really been scared of snakes. As long as I know it's a non-poisonous species, they don't worry me. And even it it's a poisonous one, I'm happy to let it slither away from me.
On the kangaroos, I'm pretty sure that there is no danger of them becoming extinct any time soon. They are well-adapted to live in their native Australia, and are doing very well in the hot, dry land.
I have never heart that people eat Kangaroo. Actually, I have never seen the before. I imagine that it is cute which might not same idea as you.
ReplyDeleteRegarding to your question, if the number of kangaroo is not in danger or extinct in the near future, I think eat it is not big issue as not many people around the world eating it. However, when the number decrease to very low, the government should prohibit eating it.
In Thailand elephant is sign of my country, I think the number of elephant dramatically decreased over the period. Many people in ์์์Northeast may eat it but the decreasing of elephant is mainly from other reason like hunting it for their ivory.
I've seen news about the kangaroo debate because of the excessive number of kangaroos in Australia. It will bring it to the food rations and send meat to the market to reduce its population, but I do not agree with it because I think it is an animal symbol of contry and I think I can't eat it because I will see Kangaroo in my head..
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I have never known that Australians eat kangaroos because it is not available in Thailand and I have never been to Australia. I was shocked a bit after reading the article. I think it is fine to eat kangaroos as long as they are not endangered. From the graph above, I am pretty sure that there are around 50 million kangaroos' population in Australia which is almost the same as previous years.
ReplyDelete