Australians kill their national symbol

For my last blog, I return to the other hemisphere of this planet. The country where you can celebrate Christmas in your swimsuit or bikini at the beach; Australia. 

Today we aren’t going to speak about the good weather, the waves or the commodious shorelines, but about the national symbol of Australia, the kangaroo.


When you think about the landscapes of Australia, you will see very wide desserts or meadows with kangaroos hopping trough the view. Now, we are afraid that in a couple of years, this image will not exist any longer. And who is to blame for that problem? The Australians themselves… 

Since 1980, it is legal to consume kangaroo meat. Before 1980, the meat was exported for more than 30 years. It wasn’t that much, so the population of the kangaroos was never threatened. The last years, the meat was exported to Russia because they used the meat to absorb it in their sausages. But since the first of august 2012, Russia has implemented an import ban for the meat. Now the sector is desperately searching for a new market and it looks like they have found one, namely China. 

But experts say that this relationship will be catastrophic for the population of the kangaroos. The Chinese love the meat so much that the species will be exterminated in a couple of years. A few Australians don’t want to let that happen and call for a boycott. The Australians themselves don’t eat kangaroo meat anymore (They never really did it anyway). Only 2 out of 10 eats kangaroo meat once in a while. 

The government listened to their inhabitants and takes measures to prevent the extinction. Only 7% of the whole population can be used for the export.

This last blog wasn’t really about etnomarketing, but I thought this was a good example of the global problem we have. We are in a period of crisis, and gaining money has become more important than anything else. Even so important that countries are prepared to kill something so unique, only for a couple of million dollars.  

Sources:

* http://www.hln.be/hln/nl/2661/Dieren/article/detail/990609/2009/09/09/Chinezen-zullen-Australische-kangoeroes-uitroeien.dhtml
*http://www.ikke.waarmaarraar.nl/pages/re/45030/Gulzige_Chinezen_bedreigen_kangoeroe__via.html
* http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2013/s3699799.htm