Improving Kangaroo Management: A Joint Statement

Read, John; Wilson, George R.; Coulson, Geoff; Cooney, Rosie; Paton, David C.; Moseby, Katherine E.; Snape, Melissa A.; Edwards, M. J.

doi:10.1111/emr.12467

Cited by 11 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…The finding of negligible lead contamination in commercially available macropod meat will be reassuring to consumers and conservationists promoting the ecological benefits of commercial macropod harvesting (Read et al, 2021 ). It is likely that the strict use of head shots for kangaroo and wallaby species is highly effective at preventing lead fragments from dispersing into the valuable meat-producing muscle of the hindquarters (Wynn et al, 2004 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lead contamination in Australian game meat

Hampton

Pain

Buenz

et al. 2023

Environ Sci Pollut Res

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Lead-based ammunition (gunshot and bullets) frequently leaves small lead fragments embedded in the meat of wild-shot game animals. Australia produces several commercial game meat products from wild animals harvested with lead-based ammunition and has a growing population of recreational hunters. However, no studies have previously investigated the frequency of lead fragments or lead concentrations in Australian game meat. We examined 133 Australian minced game meat items of four types for evidence of lead contamination. Samples were meat from kangaroos (Macropus and Osphranter spp.; n=36) and Bennett’s wallabies (Notamacropus rufogriseus; n=28) sold for human consumption, and deer (‘venison’; multiple spp.; n=32) and stubble quail (Coturnix pectoralis; n=37) harvested for private consumption by recreational hunters. All packages were studied by digital radiography to detect the presence of radio-dense fragments, assumed to be lead fragments from ammunition. Visible fragments were absent in commercially available kangaroo products, but were present in 4%, 28% and 35% of wallaby, venison and quail, respectively. Mean meat lead concentrations (mg/kg wet weight) were 0.01 ± 0.01 for kangaroo, 0.02 ± 0.01 for wallaby, 0.12 ± 0.07 for venison, and 1.76 ± 3.76 for quail. The Australian food standards threshold for livestock meat (0.1 mg/kg w.w.) was not exceeded by any kangaroo or wallaby products but was exceeded by 53% and 86% of venison and quail, respectively. Radiography only detected 35% of samples that were above the food safety threshold. While average lead concentrations in commercially available macropod (kangaroo and wallaby) meat were low, those in recreationally harvested game meat may pose health risks for hunters and associated consumers.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lead contamination in Australian game meat

Hampton

Pain

Buenz

et al. 2023

Environ Sci Pollut Res

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“…The proposals of Read et al . (2021), as currently stated, would perpetuate the pollution of environments with high conservation value with tonnes of an extremely toxic and persistent heavy metal. It is apparent that there is currently limited consideration of this issue in Australian wildlife management.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…However, there are alternatives that allow for exactly the same management actions without the secondary consequences to local wildlife or public health. The proposals of Read et al (2021), as currently stated, would perpetuate the pollution of environments with high conservation value with tonnes of an extremely toxic and persistent heavy metal. It is apparent that there is currently limited consideration of this issue in Australian wildlife management.…”

Section: Implications For Managersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We similarly appreciate that professional shooting of hyperabundant macropods, as opposed to alternative management options, is likely to lead to better biodiversity and animal welfare outcomes (Read et al . 2021). However, one important issue has been overlooked in this volume: all professional shooting of macropods currently relies on toxic lead‐based ammunition.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We agree with the main conclusions of this volume, that management of overabundant macropod populations is most effective if it is evidence-based, proactive and adaptive to minimise waste and use resources sustainably. We similarly appreciate that professional shooting of hyperabundant macropods, as opposed to alternative management options, is likely to lead to better biodiversity and animal welfare outcomes (Read et al 2021). However, one important issue has been overlooked in this volume: all professional shooting of macropods currently relies on toxic lead-based ammunition.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Managing macropods without poisoning ecosystems

Hampton¹,

Pay²,

Katzner³

et al. 2022

Eco Management Restoration

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A recent review of the management of hyperabundant macropods in Australia proposed that expanded professional shooting is likely to lead to better biodiversity and animal welfare outcomes. While the tenets of this general argument are sound, it overlooks one important issue for biodiversity and animal health and welfare: reliance on toxic lead-based ammunition. Lead poisoning poses a major threat to Australia's wildlife scavengers. Current proposals to expand professional macropod shooting would see tonnes of an extremely toxic and persistent heavy metal continue to be introduced into Australian environments. This contrasts with trends in many other countries, where lead ammunition is, through legislation or voluntary programs, being phased out. Fortunately, there are alternatives to lead ammunition that could be investigated and adopted for improved macropod management. A transition to lead-free ammunition would allow the broad environmental and animal welfare goals desired from macropod management to be pursued without secondarily and unintentionally poisoning scavengers. Through this article, we hope to increase awareness of this issue and encourage discussion of this potential change.

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The late-Quaternary megafauna extinctions: Patterns, causes, ecological consequences and implications for ecosystem management in the Anthropocene

Svenning,

Lemoine,

Bergman

et al. 2024

Camb. prisms Extinction

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Across the last ~50,000 years (the late Quaternary) terrestrial vertebrate faunas have experienced severe losses of large species (megafauna), with most extinctions occurring in the Late Pleistocene and Early to Middle Holocene. Debate on the causes has been ongoing for over 200 years, intensifying from the 1960s onward. Here, we outline criteria that any causal hypothesis needs to account for. Importantly, this extinction event is unique relative to other Cenozoic (the last 66 million years) extinctions in its strong size bias. For example, only 11 out of 57 species of megaherbivores (body mass ≥1,000 kg) survived to the present. In addition to mammalian megafauna, certain other groups also experienced substantial extinctions, mainly large non-mammalian vertebrates and smaller but megafauna-associated taxa. Further, extinction severity and dates varied among continents, but severely affected all biomes, from the Arctic to the tropics. We synthesise the evidence for and against climatic or modern human (Homo sapiens) causation, the only existing tenable hypotheses. Our review shows that there is little support for any major influence of climate, neither in global extinction patterns nor in fine-scale spatiotemporal and mechanistic evidence. Conversely, there is strong and increasing support for human pressures as the key driver of these extinctions, with emerging evidence for an initial onset linked to pre-sapiens hominins prior to the Late Pleistocene. Subsequently, we synthesize the evidence for ecosystem consequences of megafauna extinctions and discuss the implications for conservation and restoration. A broad range of evidence indicates that the megafauna extinctions have elicited profound changes to ecosystem structure and functioning. The late-Quaternary megafauna extinctions thereby represent an early, large-scale human-driven environmental transformation, constituting a progenitor of the Anthropocene, where humans are now a major player in planetary functioning. Finally, we conclude that megafauna restoration via trophic rewilding can be expected to have positive effects on biodiversity across varied Anthropocene settings.

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Improving Kangaroo Management: A Joint Statement

Cited by 11 publications

References 35 publications

Lead contamination in Australian game meat

Lead contamination in Australian game meat

Managing macropods without poisoning ecosystems

The late-Quaternary megafauna extinctions: Patterns, causes, ecological consequences and implications for ecosystem management in the Anthropocene

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