Once considered pet food, kangaroo meat could soon be sold to China as a luxury product, to encourage Chinese consumers to do something few Australians will - eat it.
With a booming middle class, China's appetite for meat is expected to rise nearly 17 per cent over the next eight years, the World Trade Organization says.
Exporters do not yet have permission to sell kangaroo meat to China but recent comments by Australian officials have put the industry in a bullish mood.
"This is something that ticks a whole range of boxes," Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
"I'm going to try and look at further discussions with the Chinese because I think there is a big prospect for a market there."
Wang Jun, the owner of a small restaurant in Beijing, said he would be keen to try kangaroo.
"Why not? As long as it is delicious," Wang said.
Beef, pork and chicken are staples in China but some diners also tuck into cat, rat, dog and more exotic animals in the belief that they have medicinal qualities. Still, not everyone may be so adventurous when it comes to kangaroo.
"How could we lay our chopsticks on such cute animals?" said Liu Xinxin, a 21-year-old university student from Beijing.
Liu's comments echo sentiments in Australia that have kept the kangaroo meat industry in a state of suspended development.
A 2008 government survey showed nearly a fifth of Australians would never eat kangaroo on ethical grounds.
Others are reluctant to consume an animal that figures in the national coat of arms. Just 15.5 per cent of people eat kangaroo meat more than four times a year.
Australia is already a large supplier of red meat to China, with shipments worth A$616 million (NZ$691 million) in the 2012/13 season. The kangaroo industry hopes to jump into the action.
"It would be huge if we could get access to the Chinese market and they are certainty very interested," said Ray Borda, founder and managing director of Macro Meats, Australia's largest processor of kangaroo and wild game meat.
CHANGING THE IMAGE
Kangaroos, protected by state and federal law, are caught in the wild, not farmed. Licensed hunters make a cull of a fixed number and specific types every year.
Some of the impetus for exports follows a boom in the population of the animals after good rains last year. Drought this season in the largest cattle-producing state of Queensland has prompted farmers to demand a bigger cull as kangaroos compete with cows for grazing space.
Australian supermarkets sell kangaroo fillets for about A$20 (NZ$22) per kg, or about 30 percent to 50 percent less than beef. The kangaroo industry aims for a different story in China, by promoting it as an exclusive item, touting its health benefits as a high-protein, low-fat food.
Australia's Department of Agriculture did not reply to queries from Reuters about the status of export talks with China but the interest on both sides is clear.
John McVeigh, Queensland's agriculture minister, has just returned from China, where he talked to importers keen to start trade in kangaroo meat.
Borda and his company are readying for an opening.
Macro Meats has partnered with New Hope Group Ltd, one of China's largest agribusiness operators, and the two firms have developed a strategy to woo customers and project exclusivity by limiting supply.
"Our strategy will see us place kangaroo only in high-end butchers, not in supermarkets," Borda said. "If the market was to open tomorrow, we would enter without much fanfare."
曾被当做宠物食品的袋鼠肉不久将做为高档产品向中国出售，以此鼓励中国的消费者们做点很少澳大利亚人敢做的事情，那就是吃袋鼠肉。
世贸组织称，随着中国中产阶级的崛起，今后8年，中国对肉类的需求将增加近17个百分点。
出口商仍未获得向中国出售袋鼠肉的批准，但近期澳大利亚官员的评论已经将袋鼠肉产业推向了高潮。
澳大利亚农业部长巴娜碧·乔伊斯告诉澳大利亚广播公司时说：“这是一个能带动一系列产业的事情。
“我打算尝试和中国方面对此继续讨论，因为我想这将会有广阔的市场前景。”
王军（音译）是北京一家小餐馆的店主，他称渴望尝试袋鼠肉。
他说：“只要味道鲜美，为什么不能尝试呢？”
在中国，牛肉、猪肉和鸡肉是主要肉类，但一些食客也会大吃特吃猫肉、老鼠肉、狗肉以及其他一些野味，这些人相信吃这些东西能够进补。然而，当谈到吃袋鼠肉的时候，不是所有的人都敢冒这个险。
刘欣欣（音译）是来自北京的一位21岁的大学生，她说：“我们怎么能吃这种可爱的动物呢？”
刘的言论在澳大利亚得到了情感呼应，这种情感导致了袋鼠肉产业处于悬而未决的状态。
2008年政府的调查显示，澳大利亚有近五分之一的人表示出于良心的考虑绝不会吃袋鼠肉。
另外一些人则不情愿吃在国家徽章上都有图形的动物，仅有15.5%的澳大利亚人一年吃袋鼠肉的次数超过4次。
澳大利亚已经是中国红肉的大供应国，2012到2013年间，红肉货运量价值达到了6.16亿澳元（6.91亿新西兰元），袋鼠肉产业正有待加入红肉出口这一行列。
Macro Meats是澳大利亚最大的袋鼠肉及其他野味加工企业，它的创始人兼管理总监雷·博德说：“如果我们能走进中国市场，那将是巨大的，中国人当然也会非常感兴趣。”
改变形象
受国家及联邦法律保护的袋鼠生活在野外，而不是被圈养的。持有捕杀执照的狩猎者每年依据一定的数量和类别宰杀一批袋鼠。
澳大利亚去年雨水充沛，袋鼠数量因此骤增，这也是推动出口袋鼠肉到中国的原因之一。昆士兰是澳大利亚最大的养牛地区，受这个季节的干旱影响，当地的农民们要求政府增大对袋鼠的宰杀量，因为过多的袋鼠会和奶牛争夺牧草。
袋鼠肉排在澳大利亚超市的售价为每公斤20澳元（22新西兰元），这比牛肉的价格要低30%到50%。而袋鼠肉产业商们想在中国书写的却是另外一个销售版本，促销袋鼠肉为独一无二的产品，叫卖袋鼠肉是高蛋白、低脂肪的健康食材。
澳大利亚农业部并没有回答路透社有关袋鼠肉出口中国会谈进程的提问，但中澳双方对此的兴趣是明确的。
昆士兰农业部长约翰·麦克维不久前结束了对中国的访问，在中国约翰与中方急盼开始袋鼠肉贸易的中方进口商们举行了会谈。
博德与他的公司已经准备好等待贸易的正式开始。
Macro Meat公司已经与中国最大的农业综合企业新希望集团有限公司建立了伙伴关系，这两家公司业已设计出了袋鼠肉销售战略，通过限量供应确保独家加工和销售。
博德说：“我们的战略就是确保袋鼠肉只出现在高端肉品供应店，而不是在超市里，如果袋鼠肉市场明天就开放，我们即能顺利平静进入。”