Would you eat kangaroo?

[lederhosen]

Just curious about how others (both Australians and non-) feel about 'roo on the menu.

[Poll #1044252]

Comments

[silverblue.livejournal.com]

I can answer the farming :) They aren't. Since European occupation has changed the land, massively increasing the amount of grazing land, kangaroo numbers have gone up hugely - they're a well designed desert animal, and something a cow would look at in despair is a feast for a kangaroo. They're culled yearly to keep the population in check - exactly what that means is up for debate (the good of the kangaroos? The sheep? The dairy industry?). The culls provide meat and hide and fur for various industries, and kangaroo leather is a frequently used material here.

I consider them bright and canny, but I think sheep are too - more than people think. The culling is overseen by the RSPCA to ensure it is humane, but those definitions might be up for debate too.

Ethically, from a global perspective, it is vastly more sensible for an Australian to eat kangaroo rather than beef - kangaroos do vastly (I mean, VASTLY) less damage to the land, suffer less in droughts, and the gaseous waste by products from their digestive systems are not expelled as methane but rather concentrated as an acid that is turned back into fuel for the kangaroo. They are optimised for Australia. We shouldn't have a huge dairy industry - that's destroying our fragile environment.

I believe it's a better choice than beef for Australians. For those overseas, those pesky airmiles blow the eco-footprint out a big way.

[cheshire-bitten.livejournal.com]

I wish someone would start farming them, I know there hard to keep inside fences but he wild population can sastian Australia's desire for red meat and I completely agree with you over dairy/beef farming.

[fizit.livejournal.com]

You'd need a hunting collective rather than farming approach. Ie a bunch of individuals invest in what's hundted over a large range of land - kind of like an open range farming commune(ish)...

[cheshire-bitten.livejournal.com]

yeah, I have thought about stuff like that before, whether you could boost stocks through breeding programs?

[mdsteele47.livejournal.com]

Could it be an autonomous collective?

[hpapillon.livejournal.com]

Cows and pigs aren't exactly mindless either (chikinz iz pretty dum). Peter and I are still somewhat divided over the issue of pigs. He thinks they should fall under 'too smart to eat', I find the idea of pigs being extremely smart to be incredibly disturbing for various reasons and am just not that sure in general... I've seen a cute trained pet pig, but I've also seen at least one 'look how smart my pig is!' that looked only marginally more bright than a rock.

(Elephants definitely rate on my smart list, but I don't *think* anyone eats them... I hope not!)

So yeah, I suppose in Australia I'd probably try it. Don't know if I'll ever be down there though.

[lederhosen.livejournal.com]

FWIW, I've stopped* eating squid and octopus for that sort of reason - they do so many nifty-cool things that I would feel bad about it.

*in a pragmatic sort of way. I won't order them or encourage people to get them, but if somebody else does and there are leftovers, I'll eat them.

[hpapillon.livejournal.com]

yup, they're on my smart-list too, and I've been passing your squid pictures on to D, who is very fond of tentacled things. :)

[verylisa.livejournal.com]

This sums up my position too. If I'm going to eat any red meat, I'll eat kangaroo as the most ethically sound for Australians. Also the healthiest: bonus!

Right now I'm not eating (much) meat, but if I ever go back to it, kangaroo would be my first choice.

[bitsofrose.livejournal.com]

I don't eat red meat so I tell everyone cos most think of beef lamb etc..Which do me no favours.
I do however like Kangaroo. So it's my exception.