At 05:26 PM 10/13/70 +1000, you wrote:
>Hello BIRDLOVERS... Lorne Here...
>
>1. The other day, in a shopping centre in Sydney, I came across an "Emu
>Oil" stall. The woman there told me the emus were killed for the oil. I
>objected. She said, "That's the way the world is!" I was angry. Does
>anyone out there no more about farming emus and cruelty to these birds.
>Are emus still moderately common in the wild?
Are sheep and dairy cattle still common in the wild?
Emus are still common in the wild, at least in WA and semi arid areas of
NSW. Drive to Broken Hill and you will see dozens killed by the road.
Several years ago during a dry spell apparently thousands were killed under
license in the Western Australian wheatbelt due to the perceived impact of
large migratory flocks on agriculture.
In my opinion I'd prefer to see more emus and kangaroos being farmed than
the millions of domesticated cloven-hoofed animals that have contributed to
the loss of Australia's topsoil and vegetation. Emus, for some strange
reason, are suited to the Australian landscape and farming, ranching or
harvesting (I'd prefer the former) have very significant environmental
spin-offs for the survival of many more vertebrate species.
Anyway we are probably too late to capitalise on our expertise. The
largest emu farms are in France and Texas and pretty soon we might be
importing emu products instead of exporting them. There is a choice to make.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shane Raidal BVSc PhD MACVSc Avian Health
Lecturer in Veterinary Pathology
Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences
Murdoch University phone: +61 8 9360 2418
Perth,WA, 6150 fax: +61 8 9310 4144
Australia
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