OLTRE LA SPECIE Il testo che vi chiediamo di mandare a questi indirizzi: [email protected]; [email protected] e in copia a: [email protected] � il seguente: Dear Sir/Madam, I am writing to express my outrage at Adidas� continued support for the massacre of kangaroos in order to supply leather for the manufacture of football boots (eg the Predator). The �commercial kangaroo harvest� quota for 2003 has been set at over six and a half million (Environment Australia, 2003) that, following this year�s drought and fires, will put further pressure on the long-term survival of the kangaroo. This number doesn�t include the one million odd joeys that are caught up in this slaughter, often either bashed to death or left to die of starvation or predation. Despite what the Australian Government says in support of the supposed �culling� of the kangaroo, spokespeople both from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and the University of New South Wales (UNSW) state that 95% of wheat crops never see kangaroos, there is no evidence of pressure on sheep grazing, and that the kangaroo population explosion is a myth. It makes sense that �commercial harvesting� would target the biggest kangaroos for more lucrative gains, but at the same time this weakens the population by destroying any concept of natural selection and eliminates those animals most likely to survive extreme conditions. Red kangaroo males do not breed until they reach alpha status in the mob which is at over ten years old; the average age of male red kangaroos is now just two (UNSW). Adidas surely cannot continue to support the slaughter of wildlife for their football boot industry and expect their reputation not to suffer. I, and other people concerned with the plight of the kangaroo, will boycott Adidas until they discontinue their use of kangaroo skin. Adidas would do much better using high-tech synthetic materials already used successfully in other football boots. Advancing this technology, instead of relying on the supply of kangaroo skin, would surely be a good step into the future both for Adidas and the kangaroo. Yours faithfully, Nome Cognome Paese