This is a very difficult documentary to include, not because of any doubts as to its quality or accuracy, but because the content is often confronting, and because of the embarrassment you will feel if you are an Australian. As the New South Wales MP Mark Pearson says: “This is the dirty, dark secret of the Great Southern Land”.
What you see of our treatment of kangaroos is true; I have seen it and experienced it, living in rural Australia for large parts of my life (I will write more on this later for T10). But, even more sadly, it is not just an Australian problem, but a worldwide one when humans come into contact with large animals: think deer, elephants, bears, wolves, tigers, antelope, bison, reindeer, mammoths, moas, etc…etc…and as such, this documentary serves as a representation of all our guilt and our inability to live humanely and sustainably with ‘the wild’.
Just nine minutes into the documentary the problem is crystallised by Jeff Masson (author of ‘When Elephants Weep’ 1996) when he says that humans are nearly all colonisers, conquerors, and we are deeply bothered by species that we haven’t managed to conquer. “We don’t like wild species” he says, and in so many ways, I’m afraid I think he’s right.
The documentary covers a lot of ground in its 100+ minutes: evolution of kangaroos; population estimates, techniques and criticism; use and manipulation of language; kangaroos as ‘pests’; kangaroos as commercial resource; government involvement and support of killing; farmer perspectives, environmentalist perspectives, Aboriginal perspectives; intimidation of protectors; and criticism of commercial operations, amongst others.
Towards the end you get a brief glimpse of Chris ‘Brolga’ Barnes at his kangaroo sanctuary outside Alice Springs in Central Australia, and it is a relief to see someone with compassion and vision respecting these wonderful creatures for what they are. (Chris had his own delightful documentary series on the establishment and running of his sanctuary that I strongly recommend for viewing, but frustratingly, it is not available any more on either BBC or ABC. Despite this, reference to it can be found at the sanctuary website: https://kangaroosanctuary.com/about/brolga-kangaroo-dundee/ ).
This issue is so raw and unpleasant in Australia that I especially thank the documentary makers – Kate McIntyre Clere and Mick McIntyre – for their courage in standing up to the bullying and intimidation that is meted out to anyone who tries to tell the truth about the “largest slaughter of terrestrial wild animals on earth” (Ken Henry, ex Secretary Dept. of Treasury, Australia).
If you would like to contribute to a much better relationship between kangaroos and humans, Animals Australia has five suggestions of things you can do – link here: https://www.animalsaustralia.org/issues/kangaroo_shooting.php
