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On Green Menu: Roos & Camels

Studies say beef emits greenhouse gases

By Peter Fearon,  Newser Staff

Posted Jan 5, 2009 5:34 AM CST

(Newser) – Australians are being advised to save the planet by eating kangaroos and camels. A study of Australia's 1 million wild camels, descendants of camels imported as pack animals, recommends that their numbers be culled by hunting them for food, AFP reports. A separate study suggests that kangaroos be farmed for meat instead of methane-producing cattle and sheep.

Some beef farmers say raising kangaroos for meat is impractical. "You are dealing with an animal that isn't used to being touched or herded," says one beef farmer. "Apparently they do have quite high rates of heart attacks from fright and also tend to damage themselves quite easily, break legs, things like that."


A female kangaroo and her joey in suburban Sydney. A study on climate change has suggested raising kangaroo for would produce less greenhouse gases than beef and sheep.
A female kangaroo and her joey in suburban Sydney. A study on climate change has suggested raising kangaroo for would produce less greenhouse gases than beef and sheep.   (AP Photo/Rob Griffith, File)
Camels were imported into Australia as pack animals. Now there are a million wild camels in the desert and they are destroying the ecological balance.
Camels were imported into Australia as pack animals. Now there are a million wild camels in the desert and they are destroying the ecological balance.   (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Kangaroos should be farmed for their meat in preference to beef and sheep, according to a new study.
Kangaroos should be farmed for their meat in preference to beef and sheep, according to a new study.   (AP Photo/Mark Graham)
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For most of Australia's human history—around 60,000 years—kangaroo was the main source of meat. It could again become important. - Climate change adviser Ross Garnaut

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