Kangaroo meat prices soar amid cost of living crisis
Not even Kangaroo meat has been spared from the cost of living crisis currently gripping the nation.
The price of roo meat has soared from around $10 a kilo to almost $40 a kilo as a combination of wet weather, government regulation and a declining number of shooters puts pressure on supply.
A meat expert quoted in the Daily Mail said increased rainfall meant paddocks had become inaccessible to kangaroo shooters.
"This makes it extremely difficult to shoot and retrieve kangaroos without getting bogged,” he said.
He added that the difficulty in obtaining a government license to shoot kangaroos had put many shooters off the industry.
“To be a shooter you need to have a ute capable of carrying and processing carcasses,” he said.
“This means you need a tray and rack build made of stainless steel with wash-down facilities and all the other bits you'll need to pass certifications.
“These can cost upwards of $25,000 to have built in some areas. Add in the cost of diesel at $2 per litre and you've significantly eaten into profit margins.”
Even the cost of bullets had increased exponentially, he said.
“It's certainly not cheap to shoot. Throw in cost of licensing and the cost of kangaroo tags and it really becomes difficult to financially justify continuing as a kangaroo shooter.”
He said less shooters meant less kangaroo meat on supermarket shelves and higher prices.