Aug 13, 2008

World - Kangaroos on brink of extinction

MELBOURNE: Four wildlife groups, the Australian Society for Kangaroos, the Wildlife Protection Association of Australia, the Kangaroo Protection Coalition and Kangaroo Defenders, have warned that kangaroos are on the brink of extinction in three states -- New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland.

In view of this alarming development, they have called for a moratorium on the commercial and non-commercial slaughter of this iconic Australian animal.

According to reports, they have based their claims on a report written for the Australian Society for Kangaroos, which suggests that falling numbers are a result of the drought and unsustainable kangaroo meat and leather industries.

The groups said the report found that there are less than five kangaroos per square kilometre across most of NSW, South Australia and Queensland, a number defined previously as being akin to "quasi extinction".

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