The Ravens Tell You Where the Dead Are

Dates

2019 - 2021
Author

Karoliina Kase
Recognition

New Generation Prize Honourable Mentions - PhMuseum 2022 Women Photographers Grant

The Ravens Tell You Where the Dead Are is a series about rural Australia in the age of extinction. From 2019 until 2021, I travelled around the country with a fencing team. Throughout this time, I documented intensive agriculture, especially animal agriculture, and its detrimental effects on the environment. While I focus on past and current land management, I’m also interested in the people who live in rural Australia as they are increasingly affected by environmental degradation and climate change. The Ravens Tell You Where the Dead Are is a story about the loss of natural life and livelihoods amidst humanity’s continuing destructive consumption.

© Karoliina Kase - Image from the The Ravens Tell You Where the Dead Are photography project

Over the 20th century, rural population of Australia halved. Increasingly, youth are seeking opportunities in cities, while the agricultural workforce continues to age. At the same time, the agricultural industry is facing growing challenges with environmental degradation and climate change. Many farmers were also forced out of business due to economic circumstances or poor regulations. The combination of these issues has led to a consistent decline of broadacre farms since the 1970s. Meanwhile the remaining farms have increased output as bigger businesses can handle new challenges better. The image pictures a shed on a sheep property which has been struggling with drought for years. This has led to significant destocking as the owners are now hoping to make money selling locally occurring pests–goats–to the meat works.

This feedlot accommodates 12,000 animals. 43% of landmass in Australia is used to produce beef. Australia is one of the world’s largest beef producing countries and the second largest beef exporter. This comes at a high cost to the environment, as half of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions are caused by the livestock industry, when taking into account short lived gases over a 20 year period. However, the environmental impact of animal agriculture is far-reaching, especially in a country like Australia, where European style farming is not compatible with local ecosystems. Beef production in Australia has led to significant land clearing, water shortages and pollution, as well as biodiversity loss.

Even though Australia continues to be the leading wool producer in the world, producing 25 per cent of greasy wool in the world, the country no longer “rides on the sheep’s back”. Wool production has been in decline over recent decades and compared to 1980s, sheep numbers have been reduced from 180 million to 65 million in 2020. This has been caused by increase in competing materials, change in consumer preferences, and the inflexibility of the producers, according to professor Richard Waterhouse from the University of Sydney. The industry has always been highly susceptible to volatile prices, with the biggest disaster being the 1991 collapse of the wool reserve price scheme. These days, Australian wool industry depends on the whims of China–in 2019/2020 financial year, China bought 77 per cent of Australian wool on the market. The image depicts a wool press.

I found this joey on a dirt track on a remote cattle station. According to an indigenous wildlife protector, this joey was bashed to death by a kangaroo shooter. The government's quota for the commercial slaughter industry is about 1.6 million adult animals per year. Joeys, who are killed by blunt force, decapitated, or left to die alone, are not included in that number, but it's estimated that 500,000-800,000 are killed within the industry only. The "private" shootings equal or are even greater than the industry's quotas. Currently, the killing rates put kangaroos on a path to extinction.

Cameron started working for the fencing team at the age of 16, as difficult family situation led him to seek independence. The family owned business welcomed the teenager to their team as they taught Cameron valuable skills and kept him out of trouble. After 2 years on the fencing team, the young man has an impeccable work ethic and proficiency with machinery, making him highly employable. He is currently working in the wood industry and is hoping to buy his own house soon.

Just like some other native species, the wedge-tailed eagle has been treated like a pest by European Australians. Hundreds of thousands of eagles were killed in the last century, as the birds were perceived to be a threat to farm animals. Nowadays, the systemic culling of the protected species is rare. While the wedge-tailed eagle population reportedly declined 27.7% from 1980s to 2000s, the species is now considered to be stable. Overall, raptor species numbers are declining all over the country. According to Threatened Species Index for Australian Birds 2018, threatened Australian bird populations decreased an average of 52 percent from 1985 to 2015. The biggest threats to native birds continue to be loss of habitat, land mismanagement, and introduced predators. The eagle on the image was rescued from people who attempted to keep the bird as a pet.

European farming techniques continue to significantly damage native ecosystems. Livestock grazing takes up 54% of Australian land. Compared to native animals, introduced farm animals overgraze and damage native vegetation with their heavier bodies and big hoofs. Sheep consume ten times more water and produce significantly more methane compared to kangaroos, for example. Furthermore, many farmers overstock their land, leading to long term or even irreversible loss of vegetation. Intensive pastoral farming has led to loss and pollution of natural water sources, erosion, species extinction, and desertification. The sheep in the image were kept in a paddock where all vegetation had been lost. The image was taken on a day when temperatures soared past 40 degrees Celsius and heavy, hot winds were blowing. Like most sheep in Australia, these animals had no shade in their paddock.

David spent about 20 years working on sheep stations as a manager–considered to be one of the best in the area. However, economic circumstances in the industry led him to seek new opportunities and he established his own fencing business about 15 years ago. Up until 2019, David’s business was overwhelmed with work and there was always 6 months worth of projects lined up, but recent droughts led to significant destocking of sheep and growing insecurity about infrastructure investments. Despite the recent setbacks, David continues to work hard and embody old-school integrity. His life spent in rural Australia is rich in experiences and he always has an interesting story to share. Throughout his time in the bush, David has witnessed significant degradation of vegetation and he acknowledges that there is poor handling of animals and land within the industry.

While many creeks and lakes in the outback have always been seasonal, streamflow has decreased in southern Australia since 1975. Southern parts of the country have experienced downward trends in rainfall since the 1970s. Since 1910, Australia’s average temperature has increased by 1.44 degrees Celsius. 2019 was the country’s hottest and driest year on record and the nation-wide drought culminated in devastating bushfires. Even though much of Australia has received decent rainfall over the past year, many regions continue to suffer from drought. The loss of water sources and intolerable temperatures are increasingly affecting dwindling native species. Image depicts Tattawuppa Hill and a dry creek.

European Australians have a complicated relationship with the country’s native species. On the one hand, animals such as kangaroos, emus, and wombats are celebrated as national treasures. On the other hand, they are often treated as problematic pests and culled in millions. The fight against the emu culminated in the Great Emu War in 1930s, when the military was assigned to kill 20,000 birds in Western Australia. Even though the current emu population is considered to be stable at around 600 to 700 thousand birds, some isolated populations are at a risk of extinction. Birds Australia concluded in the early 2000s that the emu population had been more than halved. Habitat loss, pollution, and intensive farming have a negative impact on the native species. The image portrays a younger bird, who could not climb a fence and was consequently separated from its parents.

The Ravens Tell You Where the Dead Are

Stay in the loop