Question to Aussies, Why don't you ranch Kangaroos?

T

TheLastOne36

Deity
Joined
Jan 17, 2007
Messages
14,045
I've been wondering for awhile, surely the sheep can not be sustained in Australia's weak soil forever, but Kangaroos are adapted to australia's harsh climate and sparsed vegetation, that it would not erode the soil to such extents like sheep.

So after having kangaroo meat served at a restaurant, i was wondering, Why not switch to Kangaroo's?

I mean they have huge populations, are native, don't erode the soil as much, would control numbers to some extent, would probably be more profitable and a better choice for the future than sheep, and is fairly delicious.

Likewise for Rabbits, you guys have <many> rabbits, why not start a rabbit industry?
 
No market, same for goats. People like beef.

(Rabbits, they are a smaller scale thing. I mean, i'm sure many posters have raised rabbits, right?)
 
Then make a market. The world can't handle raising cows forever. Ounce the option is there, i'm sure there would be buyers. And who doesn't like rabbi meat?

Although America's ban on Kangaroo meat might be a problem...
 
America needs to legalize kangaroo meat, then Australia will have kangaroo ranches.
 
first guess as a non-aussie? they are too cute to eat. anybody can eat a turkey or a shark or grilled tarantulas, those things are hideous. nevermind snakeskin and croc leather boots. but when it comes to eating dogs (I actually might have unknowingly done that once, no clue, and I adore dogs) or cats (serves them right) or indigenous animals that are docile and as a rule a pleasure to behold it becomes somewhat complicated and less lucrative.
 
There is a kangaroo industry, but it is limited, IIRC. Farming kangaroo would be exceptionally difficult, as they aren't an animal that can be contained easily. Kangaroo is actually a farm pest, and so are culled regularly, resulting in some meat. And I must say, I think the industry should expand, 'cause kangaroo is delicious. Much better than beef.

As for the goat market, it has increased of recent years in Australia, particularly in exports to Asian countries.
 
Less docile. Jump really high. Less market. Sure our lord Diamond would male some point about the possibility of a human establishing himself as pack-leader or some such too.
 
Camikaze said:
As for the goat market, it has increased of recent years in Australia, particularly in exports to Asian countries.
Click to expand...

As a part-time goat farmer, this interests me. Any reason for the recent spike?
 
scherbchen said:
first guess as a non-aussie? they are too cute to eat. anybody can eat a turkey or a shark or grilled tarantulas, those things are hideous. nevermind snakeskin and croc leather boots. but when it comes to eating dogs (I actually might have unknowingly done that once, no clue, and I adore dogs) or cats (serves them right) or indigenous animals that are docile and as a rule a pleasure to behold it becomes somewhat complicated and less lucrative.
Click to expand...

That is what i was guessing at first to, but perhaps we need to educate the public first? Kangaroo's are pests from what i hear from the australians. (edit, crosspost with the first aussie to view this thread...)

iirc, i think i read somewhere that the ban on Kangaroo meat in the USA is actually because some politicians wife said that Kangaroo's are so cute and are an endangered species. :rolleyes:
 
TheLastOne36 said:
That is what i was guessing at first to, but perhaps we need to educate the public first? Kangaroo's are pests from what i hear from the australians.

iirc, i think i read somewhere that the ban on Kangaroo meat in the USA is actually because some politicians wife said that Kangaroo's are so cute and are an endangered species. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Yeah, That was in Collapse! by Jared Diamond. IIRC, it was Johnson's wife.
 
Camikaze said:
There is a kangaroo industry, but it is limited, IIRC. Farming kangaroo would be exceptionally difficult, as they aren't an animal that can be contained easily. Kangaroo is actually a farm pest, and so are culled regularly, resulting in some meat. And I must say, I think the industry should expand, 'cause kangaroo is delicious. Much better than beef.

As for the goat market, it has increased of recent years in Australia, particularly in exports to Asian countries.
Click to expand...

For the bold, that was the problem i was thinking myself, but really, we are humans, a problem of "kangaroo's can jump over fences" can not seriously be the hardest thing to come up with an answer for.
Yeah, That was in Collapse! by Jared Diamond. IIRC, it was Johnson's wife.
Click to expand...

That's where! That's probably where i got my Kangaroo interest from as well...
 
TheLastOne36 said:
Likewise for Rabbits, you guys have a <tonne> of rabbits, why not start a rabbit industry?
Click to expand...

Rabbits are an introduced species, and quite harmful to the native populations. It would probably be better if the rabbit population there was eliminated.

Moderator Action: Please do not quote foul language. You are responsible for the content of your posts.
 
Our sheep are largely a wool industry, not a lamb industry, so replacing sheep with kangaroos is not an entire solution.
But there have been people suggesting introducing kangaroo farming, and this is a suggestion I agree with. They are also better for the environment since they output less greenhouse gases (if you know what I mean).
It might have something to do with people not wanting to farm one of the animals on our coat of arms.

However, for reasons unknown to me, the rabbits aren't suitable for widescale farming.
 
Annex said:
Rabbits are an introduced species, and quite harmful to the native populations. It would probably be better if the rabbit population there was eliminated.
Click to expand...

Surely you guys can come up with some kind of giant inclosed rabbit house for rabbit hunting.
 
Mowque said:
As a part-time goat farmer, this interests me. Any reason for the recent spike?
Click to expand...

I saw a documentary at school (I go to an agricultural high school) a while back, so I can't really remember, but I think it was expanding due to the fact that it could be more easily exported than, say, sheep, and also due to religious reasons. And because the sheep market is quite large, there is more room for expansion in the goat industry. They are a lot harder to actually farm, being more individualistic animals, but the demand is there for them, as is the supply. Goat farmers make quite tidy profits.

TheLastOne36 said:
iirc, i think i read somewhere that the ban on Kangaroo meat in the USA is actually because some politicians wife said that Kangaroo's are so cute and are an endangered species. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Yeah. Kangaroos are one of the most major farm pests. You get herds (?) of kangaroos moving across farms, creating massive soil erosion problems, IIRC, due to the fact that they are, well, jumping. They can also trample crops, which is obviously a large problem for a farmer.
 
TheLastOne36 said:
For the bold, that was the problem i was thinking myself, but really, we are humans, a problem of "kangaroo's can jump over fences" can not seriously be the hardest thing to come up with an answer for.
Click to expand...

But they could also jump through the fence. They are exceptionally powerful animals.
 
Camikaze said:
They are a lot harder to actually farm, being more individualistic animals, but the demand is there for them, as is the supply. Goat farmers make quite tidy profits.
Click to expand...

Tell me about it, :rolleyes: . good for nothing but trouble. I know most people in the States that raise them use them for clearing the land. Do they have that issue in Australia? ie, environmental degradation due to herding?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom