WHAT'S NEXT

Stop Cruel Kangaroo Experiment
  1. Signatures
    649 out of 1,000
    Petitioning
    1. Ethics Manager (+ 4 others)
      Petitioning
      close
      • Ethics Manager (Ms Eve Steinke)
      • Ethics Officer (Ms Joanne Bussey)
      • Research Services Office
      • Research Services Assistant (Susan McGaffin)
      • Ethics Officer (Ms Penny Potter)
  2. Created By
    Carin Zellerman
    Stockholm, Sweden
About this Petition Petition Letter Petition Updates
How We Won

Mar 10, 2011

A University of Wollongong research student planned to confine wild kangaroos in small cages for up to nine months in order to measure their methane gas output as part of a study on global warming. The kangaroos would have been killed at the end of the cruel experiment. 

More than 600 Change.org community members spoke out against the proposed experiment, which was also questioned by kangaroo experts and Australian animal advocates, and the student decided to withdraw his application for the project.

Update:

Great news !

The experiment has been abandoned as the research student has withdrawn his application for the project !

 

The University of Wollongong intends to confine six kangaroos in a small cage for nine months, to study their methane release as part of a PhD experiment on global warming, despite the fact that the same experiment was done 40 years ago. After the experiment, the kangaroos are to be killed. The University might also repeat this experiment on wombats. The purpose of this experiment stems from the idea that methane emissions could be reduced by replacing cattle in rangelands with kangaroos, as kangaroos produce little methane, a fact that has already been investigated and acknowledged. A spokesperson for the University has said that no decision has been made by the ethics committee about using kangaroos for this experiment, and that the matter is still under consideration. Please convince them to scrap this plan.

 

Photo credit: Anne Keiser

Why People Are Signing
Recent Signatures

Please Reject Plans for Cruel Kangaroo Experiment

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am contacting you regarding a proposed experiment in which six kangaroos will be confined in a small cage for up to nine months in order to study their methane emission. The release of methane through exhaling and eructation among kangaroos has already been widely studied.

Such a confinement will have a number of negative effects on these animals. Kangaroos are free ranging animals who normally travel over several kilometers per day in the wild. They are not adapted for remaining confined in such an enclosure. Their muscular hind legs have been designed for hopping and will inevitably be wasted due to the restrictive environment. To prevent an animal's natural movement through confinement in an enclosure is highly inappropriate - it is unlikely that any small facility could provide a reasonable quality of life. The animals will also suffer psychologically from such an unnatural living condition. Kangaroos are highly social animals that live in mobs with 50 or more members. They will be denied of their basic needs and suffer distress from such an isolation. In light of the cruel nature of this project and the fact that this same experiment has already been conducted previously, to allow this experiment to take place would be unconscionable.

I ask that you please halt any plans for this experiment.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

[Your name]

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