Three of the largest native mammals in Australia and South America should be marketed better and harvested instead of being considered pests, according to a Brisbane zoologist.
The University of Queensland’s School of Integrative Biology Professor Gordon Grigg said such an approach was important for the long term conservation of these species.
Professor Grigg said there was still much economic potential in Australia’s kangaroos and also in South
America’s capybara, a giant wetland ‘guinea-pig’ and the Patagonian guanaco, a small camel related to alpacas.
He said the animals should be harvested for their meat, wool and leather which would provide money to conserve the species in native habitats.
As a longtime supporter of kangaroo harvesting, Professor Grigg has teamed up with South American biologists and ecologists who want to expand commercial use of native species.
“Like kangaroos, capybaras and guanacos are creatures that haven’t yet reached their economic potential,” Professor Grigg said.
“Commercial use of the animals, done properly, can lead to their conservation and sustainable use instead of the animals continually being seen as a pest and something that’s unwanted.
“If the animals are not valued commercially, they will remain second class citizens in their own lands.”
He said all three animals were in healthy numbers and used commercially at different levels now, but there had been no great push to further commercialise them.
Their meat held the biggest potential but guanacos also had fine wool rated at 14 microns compared to superfine merino fleece at 17-18 microns.
During a three-week study tour of Brazil and Argentina, Professor Grigg spoke with Brazilian and Patagonian biologists comparing the opportunities and constraints of the different animals.
While in Sao Paulo, Brazil’s biggest city with more than 20 million people, Professor Grigg observed ecologists count capybaras in the city’s waterways using a helicopter.
Unlike his own aerial surveys in Australia, his pilot had to dodge powerlines, bridges and weave through canyons of high-rise apartments.
Professor Grigg has personally expanded UQ’s link with Brazil over the last decade by hosting and supervising exchange students and shared research.
Next year he will work with behavioural ecologist Professor Luciano Verdade, visting from the University of Sao Paulo, on the behaviour and mating systems of red kangaroos in South Australia and Queensland.
Media: Professor Grigg (+61 07 3365 2470, g.grigg@uq.edu.au) or Miguel Holland at UQ Communications (07 3365 2619)
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