Kangaroo Meat Could Help Australia Cut Gas Emissions

Dave Hansford in Wellington, New Zealand
for National Geographic News

August 22, 2008

Replacing much of Australia's beef and lamb with kangaroo meat could significantly cut the continent's greenhouse gas emissions and save its native terrain, according to a new proposal.

A recent study suggests phasing out some 7 million cattle and 36 million sheep from Australian rangelands—semiarid land that doesn't naturally produce the grass livestock requires—and replacing them with kangaroos.

Because of their unique gut microbes, kangaroos emit much less methane than sheep and cattle, said lead author George Wilson, of Canberra consultancy Australian Wildlife Services.

"Methane is a very dangerous greenhouse gas—much more potent than carbon dioxide," he said.

Sheep and cattle are responsible for about 11 percent of Australian agricultural emissions, according to a government survey. Each cow produces 1.84 metric tons of greenhouse gas equivalents a year, and each sheep gives off more than 300 pounds (140 kilograms).

Kangaroos, meanwhile, emit less than seven pounds (three kilograms) of greenhouse gases. Under the study's proposal, that could translate into savings of 16 million tons of greenhouse gases annually—or 3 percent of Australia's total emissions.

The findings were published online last month in the journal Conservation Letters.

Profitable Pests?

Wilson estimated some 30 million kangaroos (including red kangaroos) already roam Australia's rangelands, where farmers typically regard them as pests. His proposal calls for the rangelands to be filled with five or six times that number.

The animals would become an asset to farmers, he said, if Australia includes agriculture—the sector that emits the most methane and nitrous oxide—in its Emissions Trading Scheme, a system the government is devising to impose charges on greenhouse polluters.

The government hopes to implement the scheme by 2010 but says it will not include agricultural emissions for another five years at least because of the difficulty in measuring them.

Wilson said the emissions saved by raising kangaroos could be worth about $650 million Australian (U.S. $570 million), based on current European carbon prices.

The impact would be strongest if livestock owners were required to purchase carbon permits to keep raising cattle and sheep, although such a scheme is far from being determined.

"If we let the kangaroo population rise to 175 million by 2020, farmers could be earning the same amount of money as they would be from cattle without that charge," he said.

"Completely Different Farming"

Peter Ampt, of the University of New South Wales, said Wilson's proposal "would require a completely different farming model."

Ampt, who is not involved with the study but is aligned with the cause, said: "Kangaroos are highly mobile and they don't herd very easily, so if you tried to apply a conventional farming model to kangaroos, there are a few obstacles."

The proposal would require farmers to "manage" kangaroos under a quota system as a wild resource, he said.

"It's a good model for conservation on private land," he added, because kangaroos would become valued instead of being regarded as pests.

"It costs an awful lot to run sheep and cattle on rangelands," he added. "You've got to maintain fences, stock water, you've got to bring them all in regularly and drench and vaccinate them. You don't have to do any of that with kangaroos."

Ampt also said conventional grazing has been "responsible for the loss a whole raft of small animals—bilbies and betongs and all those little creatures, which were incredibly important ecosystem engineers."

But How's It Taste?

The Australian government says kangaroo meat is increasingly popular.

Already available in Australian supermarkets, the meat could also be at grocer near you. The industry estimates that it exports to more than 55 countries and is looking for growth in the U.S. and Asian markets.

Ampt said the meat is "not unlike venison."

According to a government fact sheet, the meat's "growing appeal stems from its well-flavoured, slightly gamey taste."

Industry groups have posted free recipes online, and Ampt offered a little advice of his own.

"The way to cook it on a barbie," Ampt said, referring to a barbeque grill, "is you roll it in some olive oil with a bit of garlic and a few herbs, and then you sear it on the barbie lightly, then let it sit for a while. It's really delicious."