Australia's Kangaroo Cull Raises Complex Questions of Survival and Ethics

In the heart of the Australian Outback, a contentious practice happens nightly: hunting kangaroos. This results in millions of deaths each year and raises major ethical questions. That’s what “Chasing Roo,” a documentary by two-time Oscar nominee Skye Fitzgerald, is all about. The movie examines the tricky balance between making money, doing the right thing, and staying alive in Australia’s kangaroo business.

The Australian government plans to kill about 5 million kangaroos in 2024, about 14% of the 35.3 million kangaroos that live in five states. Officials say this level of hunting is feasible, but it has caused heated arguments about how to treat these famous marsupials.

Fitzgerald, known for making the films “Hunger Ward” and “Lifeboat,” wants to show how humans treat animals without respect. He says, “I wanted to do something about this ascendancy that we assume over animals.” His movie shows how complicated kangaroo hunting is, where the need to make money and the desire to protect animals battle.

The documentary shows a wide range of people working in the business. David “Cujo” Coulton and his teenage son Darby are among them. They hunt kangaroos near Aramac, Queensland. There aren’t many job prospects in this small, remote town of about 200 people. Cujo, who has a kangaroo tattoo, loves the animals that help him make a living, even though he kills hundreds of them every year.

There is a lot at stake for business in the cutting. The meat of kangaroos is used to make pet food, and their hides are used to make leather things like soccer cleats and jackets. There are also steaks, ground meat, and “kanga bangas” (sausages) made from the meat that people eat.

This stance on hunting is based on strong agricultural interests. Fitzgerald talks about how graziers, who run big sheep and cow farms, say that kangaroos make it harder for their animals to get food and water. He says, “The grazers have so much political power that they’ve convinced the government that the roos are in plague proportions.” Notably, sheep and cattle are not native to Australia.

The movie also shows that the killing had effects that no one expected. Hunters like bigger kangaroos, which changes how the species has evolved. Because strong males are more valuable for hunting, younger males are left to breed, slowly reducing the number of kangaroos in the area.

Fitzgerald juxtaposes these business realities with scenes from wildlife rehabilitation centers to show how they are different. There, people take care of joeys and wallabies that have been left alone, which shows the “cognitive dissonance” in Australia’s relationship with its national animal.

This problem affects more than just Australia. 1971, California made it illegal to bring kangaroo goods into the state. However, efforts to make similar rules across the country have failed, as shown by the U.S. Congress’s rejection of the Kangaroo Protection Act in 2021.

“Chasing Roo” makes people think about tough issues like how people treat animals and the real cost of doing what you must do to make money. She says, “I wanted to do it in a way that sort of hit you in the gut, where you bear witness to how human beings treat animals.”