Australian scientists have come up with a unique way to combat climate change: eat kangaroos and save the world.

A study claims that farming and consuming more kangaroos instead of cattle and sheep will reduce carbon gas emissions.

According to the scientific journal Conservation Letters, the Australian icon produces far less methane than sheep and cattle. Methane is one of the worst causes of greenhouse gas and in Australia alone sheep and cattle produce 11 per cent of the nation’s total emissions.

Kangaroos, on the other hand, produce relatively small amounts of the gas because they are not ruminants; as with wallabies, the microorganisms in their stomachs differ from those found in sheep and cattle.

The study, conducted by George Wilson, of the independent consultancy Australian Wildlife Services, found that increasing the kangaroo population to 175 million and decreasing the number of livestock over the next 12 years would lower Australia’s annual greenhouse gas emissions by 3 per cent.

“Currently, farmers have few options to reduce the contribution that livestock make to greenhouse gas production,” Dr Wilson said. “However, low-emission kangaroo meat will provide an option to avoid emissions . . . and have a positive global impact.”

The kangaroo has long been a symbol of Australia. The marsupial stands alongside the emu on the national coat of arms, is featured bouncing across the golden $1 coin, and one became an international hero in the 1960s as the star of the TV show Skippy the Bush Kangaroo.

Dr Wilson said that increasing the number of kangaroos that roam the Outback – now estimated at over 30 million – to produce the same amount of meat as cattle and sheep by 2020 would also provide “substantial conservation benefits”.

The study found that the environment would benefit from reducing the number of hard-hoofed livestock, potentially improving soil conservation, increasing the capacity of vegetation to respond to drought, and improving water quality.

“Although we are proposing an increase in kangaroo numbers and growth in the kangaroo harvesting industry, the net planned effect is for a lower grazing impact,” Dr Wilson said. “This means there will be less damage from hard-hoofed livestock and maintenance of kangaroo and other wildlife habitat.” He acknowledged that the livestock industry was likely to be wary of the study’s findings and said that the public – at least in Australia – would need to be reeducated about the benefits of eating kangaroo meat.

Exports, particularly to Germany, Russia and South Korea, make up about 60 per cent of the Australian kangaroo meat industry, which is worth an estimated $A200 million (£92 million).

The President of the Wildlife Protection Association of Australia, Pat O’Brien, described the study as nonsense. He said that 500 times more kangaroos than the current population would have to be killed to produce the equivalent amount of sheep and cattle meat.

“The kangaroo population is in demise in Australia; it’s never been so low because of ten years of drought,” said Mr O’Brien, who is also the chairman of the National Kangaroo Protection Coalition.

“Kangaroos have completely had it unless we stop killing them.”

SPRING RECIPE

Thai-style salad of kangaroo and peanuts with lime

Serves 6

Grate the zest and squeeze the juice of three limes

Mix with demerara sugar, chilli, fish sauce and tamari

Sear 400g/14oz of kangaroo fillets for 2 to 3 minutes in hot sesame oil

Slice kangaroo fillets into strips and mix with the dressing, roasted rice, shallots, herbs and peanuts

Source: Peter Gordon for BBC Food

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