IFOUND the remarks of Mrs A Edwards about kangaroos and their unseemly slaughter (Letters, March 12) somewhat curious.

Having lived in Western Australia for several years, I was fully aware of the farming and breeding of kangaroos and emus alongside sheep and cattle for the food chain.

Kangaroo meat, although more tender than ox, was not particularly popular among Australians. Personally, I never found a supermarket that sold kangaroo meat -- the only place I could buy it was in a delicatessen-style butcher's shop.

Regarding wild kangaroos, outback conditions are so severe, food and water so scarce, that they are simply not worth bothering with on any viable economic or food-value level.

The notion of trucks driving through the vast expanse and searing heat of the outback chasing elusive, emaciated kangaroos is rather far-fetched. Any meat product gained in that way would only be fit for wild dingoes.

Culling is a government-controlled activity in Australia, being focused on alien breeds.

Ferile cats and rabbits are targeted in order to preserve natural habitat and indigenous wild species.

It was more than clear to me that Australia is proud of its national emblem.

PETER CUNLIFFE, Edgeware Road, Revidge, Blackburn.