Sunday, 20 July 2025 : National Rally at Parliament House. Monday, 21 July 2025: National campaign planning day. Tuesday, 22 July 2025: Rally at Parliament House on the opening day of Parliament
Pressure Labor to end its support and complicity in human rights violations that have been called genocide by the International Criminal Court.
Good evening. Earlier this evening, earlier today in a courthouse in Saipan, we had a hearing that brought to a close a prosecution that never should have been brought.
In an 8 minute interview posted to YouTube on 30 April 2024, Yama Wolomsal, a Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation anchor, questioned David Mencer, a spokesperson for Israel, about the almost-7-month-old Gaza conflict in which over 34,000 Palestinians are known to have been killed and thousand more are missing, presumed dead, beneath the rubble. By putting to David Mencer facts from authoritative sources including the World Health Organisation, the United Nations, the Gaza Health Ministry and numerous human rights groups, Yama Wolomsal demolished every one of David Mencer's claimed justifications for Israel's war.
Starting on Tuesday 20 February, 9 days from today, a two day hearing, to decide whether or not Julian Assange is to be extradited to the United States, will commence. It seems highly likely that the judge will rule that Assange be extradited to the United States. There he will face a kangaroo court hearing, thence imprisonment for 175 years, in conditions even worse than the solitary confinement he is now being made to endure in London's Belmarsh Prison (find PDF adaptation of this article here).
This article has been renamed to How the Julian Assange Support Group can hold to account the Albanese government for its failure to support Julian Assange and how you can help (please click on the link read) to match the title of a double-sided A4 leaflet.
Both houses of the Australian parliament, the House of Representatives and the Senate, are meeting tomorrow, Tuesday 6 February 2024 (Update, Wednesday 9:56am: nothing said about Gaza on Tuesday). Based on past experience, if the Gaza conflict, in which, so far, nearly 27,000 Palestinian civilians are known to have been killed, is to be discussed, there has to be a Suspension of Standing orders. Should any debate occur, most of the Labor government members will just state, as fact, many of the lies from the Israeli and Corporate/Legacy newsmedia, whilst feigning concern for the plight of Palestinian civilians. The Liberal/National Opposition, for its part, will wholeheartedly support Israel's action and show almost no concern for the Palestinian civilians.
Further update, Wed 15 June: Assange mentioned only once this week in Parliament this week, whilst German MP speaks up (see Appendix 2 below). Although Julian Assange was not mentioned either in the House of Representatives or the Senate, yesterday, on Tuesday 13 June, there is still good reason to hope that, over the remaining 7 days, in which both houses sit (including today), we will he
I emailed the following to Independent Tasmanian MP Andrew Wilkie and to a number of other members of the Bring Julian Assange Parliamentary Support Group on the evening of Monday 12 June, the day before the 13 June resumption of the sitting of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. How you can help : Contact your local Member of Parliament, your state Senators or members of the Bring Julian Assange Home Parliamentary Support Group and ask them to vote for my proposed motion, included below or, at least, to vote for the procedural motion to allow Standing Orders to be suspended so that motion can be put. Please let us know here on candobetter of your efforts, any responses or lack thereof.
Included below is an example of the letters I sent late in the evening of Monday 27 March to each of the 40 members of the Bring Julian Assange Home Parliamentary Support Group. I point out that, in spite of its size, the efforts of this group so far appear to have made little difference towards making the Albanese government act to end the UK's illegal imprisonment of Assange or even to just hold this government to account for its failure to do so.
The following article has been adapted from the leaflet handed out at the weekly Vigil for Julian Assange in the evening of Friday 17 March 2023 at Melbourne's Flinders Street Station: Julian Assange, the multiple award-winning Australian journalist, has been imprisoned in solitary confinement for 23 hours per day in London's Belmarsh prison since April 2019 - almost four years ago.
Canberra Conversations SUNDAY 19 March 2023 AT 3:30 PM – 5:30 PM Smith's Alternative, 76 Alinga Street, Canberra, ACT, Australia, Australian Capital Territory. 3 speakers plus forum.
Are we really living in a Democracy?
JOIN THE CONVERSATION
Come to our first ever Canberra Conversation to discuss with 3 expert speakers whether we do indeed live in a democracy and if not what we can do about it.
Join us - rally, say No to War – protect truthtellers 8am Monday 20th March at the ACT Courts. On the 20th anniversary of the illegal invasion of Iraq, and as the Coalition of the Willing which was responsible for the illegal invasion of Iraq on 20 March 2003 has regrouped as AUKUS, we should remember the legacy of that disastrous war and other destructive wars. (Reposted from Canberra Conversations.)
As the embedded YouTube video below shows, yesterday, on 30 November 2022, in the House of Representatives, during question time , Dr Monique Ryan, the independent member for the north-eastern Melbourne metropolition seat of Kooyong, pointed out to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese that only political intervention will free Julian Assange.
There are two critical facts which, to me, don't seem to have been taken into account by many of those, both here and overseas, who are fighting for Julian Assange's freedom. Had these facts been understood and then acted upon, I believe that Julian Assange would be free today or, at worst, our prospects of freeing him in the near future would be much greater than what is now the case.
This article points to the utter failure of Australia's parliamentary system to deal with Julian Assange's predicament and the associated public concern.
On Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this coming week, the national Parliament of Australia, the country of which Julian Assange is a citizen, will be sitting. Around the world, there is a huge popular outcry in support of Julian Assange. This includes other governments, and parliaments, including the government of Mexico, the Mexico City Council and the German Bundestag. They have all demanded of the British Government that it end its illegal imprisonment and torture of Julian Assange and, of the United States' government, that it end its illegal attempts to extradite Julian Assange. |  |
The Australian Wildlife Protection Council (AWPC) was able to help citizen advocates generate a groundswell of public awareness and fight-back in June and July 2022 against the now annual ‘cull’ in Canberra of the kangaroo (our icon holding up one side of the federal coat-of-arms). Whole kangaroo families are shot behind suburban backyards — for reasons that remain unclear despite government blame-the-victim narratives — on nature reserves in the national capital.
One fact, apparently not properly appreciated amongst the vast popular movement in support of Julian Assange, both in Australia and overseas, is that, in spite of the fact that the Government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese could make the British Government release Julian Assange today, it has chosen not to.
Title was South Australia's Parliament to debate Julian Assange's plight this coming Wednesday - Why won't Canberra? Update, Sun 6 Nov 2022: Parliament will be sitting Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this coming week.
No sign of Anthony Albanese at this brilliant event, although we know he was in parliament.
Update, Tue 26 July: A new larger PDF file which includes a duplicate of the first double-sided A5 page has been uploaded. Without this addition, the second page will be blank. I am about to find out if the problem is fixed. My apologies.
In place of urban sprawl, urban consolidation is supposed to reduce our environmental footprint, by compacting housing for less car usage, more “affordable housing”, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. On the contrary, it tends to have the opposite effect.
Trees, which provide shade and act as natural air conditioners, play an important role in helping to create cities that are more resilient to extreme temperatures as the climate warms. But, trees are being cleared for the cluttering of cookie-cutter, generic concrete multi-unit blocks, instead of the garden-surrounded an identifiable single houses of a few years ago.
The "heat island effect" results from hard surfaces absorbing and then radiating heat, thus capturing hot city temperatures. Experts say this phenomenon is expected to become more prevalent with increasing urbanisation and will exacerbate climate change impacts.
ANU research shows that some of Canberra’s inner-city suburbs are the most heat-vulnerable in the territory, despite the benefits of their leafy tree-lined streets. It showed Canberra’s mostly-treeless outer suburbs were likely to be up to seven degrees hotter in summer than those with more established trees - such as those inner suburbs.
In that study of 21 Canberra suburbs, researchers found temperatures could vary by as much as 7.5 degrees between treeless postcodes and those with more trees.
Canberra Times: Canberra's heat vulnerable suburbs revealed
ANU Researcher Dr Liz Hanna said: "If we have planning designs and housing designs where there's insufficient front and backyard to plant a tree, and if street trees are not shade trees, we think that's foolish”. We agree it's “foolish”, but with high rates of population growth and increasing urban density, backyards and traditional housing with gardens and trees, are disappearing.
Up to 100,000 Victorian premises were threatened to lose power during the January heatwave as demand crippled the state's electricity grid.
Melbourne is following the lead of Asian cities such as Hong Kong for extreme housing density, with more people living in apartments. The housing affordability squeeze, and the marketing of thousands of tiny apartments to investors, is threatening to undermine Melbourne’s liveability.
Mr Tony Arnel, Victorian Building Commissioner, suggests that buildings above three storeys begin to use more energy due to the need for lighting in common areas, lifts, security and the lifestyle of residents. The Victorian Building Commission has found there is “no conclusive evidence that vertical living was more sustainable than conventional homes.”
A NSW Energy Australia study found that high-rise apartments use 30 per cent more power than a typical detached house. The use of air-conditioners is a mandatory part of the lifestyle.
Climate change is predicted to increase the number and intensity of heatwaves experienced in Melbourne. Along with the densification of our city, and a population that's projected to double by 2060, it means the converging effects of more power being soaked up by a growing number of apartment dwellers, more power outages, higher utility and health costs - and the compounding factor of higher greenhouse gas emissions.
To build the East West Link tunnel under Royal Park, the Melbourne City Council estimates that some 5,000 trees, many very old, would be lost. The remnant bushland in West Royal Park, the only area of this kind of vegetation left in Melbourne, would be dug up. By actively cooling the urban landscape, vegetation helps reduce energy use and carbon dioxide emissions, and ultimately lessens the risk of residents suffering heat stress, heatstroke or even death…
Wetlands from storm water, which supplies water for Melbourne's parks and street trees plus the Royal Park Golf course, will be completely destroyed.
The East West Link/tunnel will increase temperatures in Melbourne, and the nibbling away of Green Wedges for urbanisation will compound the problems of power demands, infrastructure break-downs, anti-social behaviours, and deaths/illness from heat stress.
The SEC provided cheap and reliable power to Victoria for 70 years. Selling off Victoria's power supplies and raised some revenue in the short term but in the long term it has resulted in a huge financial burden on the entire population through rapidly increasing prices. Now, unplanned overloads and outages are placing extra stress on the power grid, one that's fine-tuned for profits rather than service.
Privatising state owned assets is a strategy is to reduce employees, and increase remuneration to share holders and owners.
The population of major Australian cities is expected to double in the next four to five decades, thanks to high rates of net overseas immigration.
The government powers-that-be in Canberra view the economic growth meta-statistics and see our economy is “growing”, without considering democracy, the costs of growth, and the human-environmental fallouts. They simply open up the draw-bridge of our borders and allow the new-comers to flow in from oversea! Planned increases in urban density are likely to result in the removal of a significant number of trees from urban areas.
Canberra’s population could increase to 904,000 by 2061 according to new projections released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. This growth means significant challenges for governments and ACT infrastructure. There's no diplomatic, administrative or public service increases to justify this growth, except general population overflow.
Melbourne’s population is swelling by 2 per cent a year, or at a doubling rate of 35 years. The power infrastructure must not only be routinely maintained and upgraded or replaced every 50 years, but must keep expanding at 2% each year - and also cope with outages and heat-waves.
We need a u-turn in our economy from a growth-based, road-dependent, high resource and energy-consuming one that's trapping us in islands of heat - to an alternative model that's bio-centric and human-friendly, and relevant to an age of extreme weather patterns, and the hostilities of climate change.
ACT Parks and Conservation Service director Daniel Iglesias said these kangaroo "culls" would only occur ''every now and then'' to bring the number of kangaroos down to a sustainable level to vaccinate to control fertility.
These ecologists are playing "god" and obviously don't trust Nature, or natural evolutionary/environmental methods to stop "over abundant" native kangaroos. TAMS Parks and Conservation director Daniel Iglesias said the cull would ensure kangaroos level are kept to an appropriate level and would protect threatened ecosystems and other animals.
ACT Parks and Conservation Service director Daniel Iglesias said these kangaroo "culls" would only occur ''every now and then'' to bring the number of kangaroos down to a sustainable level to vaccinate to control fertility.
These ecologists are playing "god" and obviously don't trust Nature, or natural evolutionary/environmental principles, to limit "over abundant" native kangaroos. TAMS Parks and Conservation director Daniel Iglesias said the cull would ensure kangaroos level are kept to an "appropriate level" and would protect threatened ecosystems and other animals. It assumes that kangaroos are excluded from ecosystems!
What are "sustainable" or an "appropriate level" except for esoterical words that are flexible, covering with "greenwashing" implications? It's also a word used to justify native animal massacres. What real ecological evidence is there of numbers being not "sustainable"? None have been revealed, and with the ignorance of most of Canberra's population, they will accept the status quo, from a government-employed "expert".
An anti-fertility drug in bait form could be available in the next 10 years, but the ACT government will still use firearms to help control the abundance of eastern greys in Canberra. Research officer Claire Wimpenny said the most recent trial had shown positive indications for a successful vaccination. It's ironical that the real environmental threats don't come from wildlife, but urban expansion and human population growth.
Activists found kangaroos with bullet wounds to their bodies, contrary to government policy, which states that the animals must be shot in the head.
TAMS Parks and Conservation director Daniel Iglesias said the government employed "highly skilled" marksmen who were able to hit their targets. With carcasses quickly disposed of, and little transparency, the activists are the only source of reliable information.
However, clean head-shots would require almost Olympic standard skill as kangaroos are likely to be moving, and they have small heads.
Mr Iglesias said the RSPCA approved of using firearms to prevent the "over population" of kangaroos. It remains qualitative and subjective, and without sound ecological support or empirical evidence.
(brochure - thanks to Sylvia Raye)
Mulligans Flat contains areas of native grassland which are of interest as south-east Australia has lost 99.5% of its lowland native grasslands in the last two hundred years. Native grassland areas were attractive to European farmers for grazing sheep and cattle, consequently, most of these grassland areas have been changed by grazing and pasture improvement. Mulligans Flat has retained areas dominated by both kangaroo and wallaby grass as well as open forest and woodland areas and it has few introduced grasses or weeds. The reserve was included in Canberra Nature Park in 1994.
The Mulligans Flat Woodland Sanctuary encloses over 400 hectares of critically endangered yellow box-red gum grassy woodland. The aim of the sanctuary is to restore the woodlands to pre-European condition by removing feral animals including foxes, cats, hares and rabbits and reintroducing locally extinct species. Just how do kangaroos conflict with this aim, rounded together with "feral" animals, considering they are part of the pre-European ecology? There still hasn't been time for the ecological systems to fully restore from 200 years of destructive cattle grazing, and it's all to easy to use kangaroos as scapegoats for Nature's struggle to restore the systems to pre-European pristine levels.
Mulligan's Flat with Kangaroo group
Density estimates of 1.42 kangaroos per hectare were made in Mulligans Flat in August/September 2008. This doesn't sound like an "overpopulation"! Kangaroo numbers will naturally fluctuate according to the seasons, and this so-called, "humane", surgical removal and disposal of native kangaroos from Nature parks is based on questionable, self-serving arguments.
The grisly photos from a dug-up mass grave show bloodied corpses clutching hairless joeys, all victims of Canberra's barbaric bureaucratic "management" of Australia's iconic marsupials.
Why is a national organisation standing for 'all creatures great and small' supporting an annual and bloody kangaroo 'cull' in Nature Reserve Parks in Canberra, of all places? Aren't Nature Reserves supposed to be a place for all creatures to feel safe and protected? You have to wonder how an animal protection organisation can stand by and say nothing about the egregious cruelty for no justifiable reason, year after year. Do they think the public is so stupid as to believe the lies that kangaroos 'overgraze' and are a threat to other species?
I certainly don't believe it - here is my open letter to the RSPCA.
Dear RSPCA
I write regarding the current slaughter of kangaroos in nine of Canberra’s Nature Reserve parks. Apparently 2000 kangaroos have been buried in Kama and Mulligans Flat Nature reserves, including possibly the much-loved stars of the recent ABC documentary ‘Kangaroo Mob, Madge and her joey Sonny.’
Only a few months ago cattle were brought into these parks to control the overgrowth of grasses, so clearly you cannot use the excuse of kangaroos ‘overgrazing’. As for being a threat to other species, no scientific proof has ever been shown that to be the case, yet every year the ACT government announces another sickening massacre of our country’s national icon.
WHY???? WHY IS THE RSPCA NOT CONDEMNING THIS? IF RSPCA IS SUPPOSED TO BE OVERSEERING IT, WHY ARE THEY PERMITTING THIS EGREGIOUS CRUELTY TO OCCUR AND WHY ISN'T RSPCA TAKING ACTION????
Last year 75% of the kangaroo population in so-called ‘Nature Reserves’ of Canberra were ‘culled’, again with no justifiable reason since there was plentiful grass.
Requests for FOI by the Australian Society for Kangaroos (ASK) have been ignored within a legally reasonable time frame. ASK uncovered the battered and shot bodies of 300 + kangaroos showing multiple cases of throat, jaw and face shots of adults and joeys, decapitated joeys and mature kangaroos with smashed skulls. All bodies exhumed were NOT killed by one shot to the brain as required by the Code of Practice but had multiple face and neck shots and incompletely severed heads. This raises the very serious question of the brutal nature of this massacre, supposedly overseered by the RSPCA.
It is difficult for me to comprehend the horrific manner in which these innocent native animals died at the hands of these shooters – and ultimately Canberra’s politicians.
This abject cruelty was attempted to be hidden from view by burying the kangaroos in the pits and starting new pits. Activists also found evidence that kangaroos had been herded into a fenced area at the back of Kama Nature reserve where multiple parallel 4WD tracks appeared to repeatedly drive towards the fence trapping the kangaroos, presumably in order to be shot.
It is truly time for this charade to end and for prosecutions to begin. I call for the RSPCA to put pressure on the ACT government to cease this illegal, cruel and unnecessary killing of our kangaroos. Animal rights activists are exposing Canberra’s hypocrisy to international arenas and this will negatively impact tourism to ACT and Australia.
Sincerely
Menkit Prince
These photographs of a mass-burial pit in Canberra for kangaroos gunned down by the government was sent to me by 'Friends of AnimalArmy' with the message, "We cannot find an investigative journalist anywhere who will expose the corruption and the lies." I cannot understand why not. Don't we want to know the truth?
I think that Australians do want to know the truth, but it seems that the mass media is letting us all down.
This infinitely sad photograph of the dead kangaroo with bent head and hand placed around the body of a hairless joey might remind some of you of pictures of Mary and the infant Jesus, and others of bodies in a pit in Auchwitz. The point is that the photograph documents a deeply tragic mistake on the part of the ACT government, that taints it as brutal and dishonest. This is one of several remarkable photographs that came to me via "Friends of AnimalArmy," with the message,
"We cannot find an investigative journalist anywhere who will expose the corruption and the lies.""They are shooting 20 metres off major 4 laned highways during peak hour in full view of all traffic, being the ACT Govt they are untouchable and do not answer to anyone."
In the early hours of Sunday morning 3 June 2012, activists uncovered a large mass burial pit at the Kama nature reserve. It contained up to an estimated 300+ slain kangaroo bodies. Evidence was discovered amidst a slurry of mud and blood illustrating unethical and illegal practices including throat shots, partially severed joeys and mature kangaroos with smashed heads. The large kangaroo among the small and tiny ones is a big mature male.
These images were taken of an unearthed pit where hundreds of kangaroos have been buried during this 2012 cull. The images are graphic and may be distressing but think how the kangaroos felt. Can any of us imagine? It is most important to share these truths around to friends, families, colleagues, media, and politicians. Blow the lid off the dodgy 'wildlife management' that goes on in the ACT and blow the lid off the mainstream media conspiracy to hide the facts from Australians.
Click here on Animal Liberation ACT’s new website for further information on what you can do to help!
When I received these pictures from friends of 'AnimalArmy', I wondered where to begin to describe what I can see is happening. Leisa's poem (above) sums it up. Leisa has said to me that the longer she knows kangaroos, and she has worked intimately with them for 25 years, the more impressed she is by their intelligence and their capacity to love - "not just their own species, but humans as well." She also says, "When I look into a kangaroo's eyes I see a capacity to analyse."
In contrast to the Canberra male half-buried in mud, the picture at the bottom of this article is of a healthy South Australian animal interacting with a friendly photographer.
[1] This poem by Leisa Moore, a kangaroo rescuer in South Australia was originally written in memory of 453 Belconnen Kangaroos Killed by the A.C.T. Government in a Kangaroo Management Cull, 2009. Leisa called it, "Message from a Belconnen Kangaroo, 'Reflection In My Eyes'.
"Canberra's Nature parks will be closed tomorrow for a "cull" of Eastern Grey Kangaroos. About 2000 are to be slaughtered for a "sustainable" number, to protect the flora and fauna. Polls of about 600 residents reveal that 79% of the city want the killings to go ahead. It's ironical that 9 "Nature" parks will be closed, under that assumption that kangaroos are not part of Nature and a threat to conservation efforts and sustainability.
Endangered flora and fauna are being threatened by "over-abundant eastern grey kangaroos". Just how does Daniel Iglesias, the public servant responsible for the decision, actually evaluate what is "abundant" or "sustainable"?
There are never any government polls or public debate on what is a sustainable human population, for Canberra or any city. Kangaroos are native animals, living in harmony with the environment, and softy-treading animals on the Earth. Humans, on the other hand, drive cars, use energy-consuming technology, change irrevocably the landscape, emit greenhouse gases and pollution, but there's no discussion on human "carrying capacity" or sustainable numbers, only for kangaroos!!
Animal activists have located what is believed to be fresh graves at Mugga Lane where 2000 of Canberra's iconic kangaroos will be buried during this year's slaughter, including the stars of the recent ABC documentary "Kangaroo Mob". Despite claims by the ACT government that their killing program is about protecting threatened species, they have failed to provide any credible evidence to support this claim.
The ACT government has also refused recent Freedom of Information requests from the Australian Society for Kangaroos relating to questions about recent culls in ACT nature parks. The Canberra government has breached multiple FOI laws by failing to respond to our request about their kangaroo culls within the legal time frame.
Thanks to the Australian Society for Kangaroos for the photo:
One of the intended burial sites for the kangaroos was switched to another location yesterday after the activists stumbled upon the proposed burial ground in south Canberra.
Activists ready to disrupt cull of 2000 roos - Canberra Times
Parks and Gardens Conservation services director, Mr Iglesias, said the culling was necessary to keep the number of kangaroos at sustainable levels that did not have a detrimental impact on other animals and plants. Just how is "sustainable", a vague and ambiguous word at the least, measured? Grasslands were used by pastoralists for many years causing species extinctions and land degradation. Nature should be allowed to find a natural balance to restore ecological systems, and this includes kangaroos.
Something very shonky is going on in Canberra with unjustified massacre of kangaroos. As the previous blog mentioned, no science to back it up.
Learn some more facts and take action! We can only stop this if lots of people take action!
Two years ago the Canberra Environment and Sustainability Resource Centre wrote a compelling document explaining how kangaroos help the environment in so many ways. It was written at a time when another big cull was being decided so of course Maxine Cooper, the Commissioner for the Environment, ‘culled’ the document and demanded return of funds paid to CESRC, and the document can now only be found online at http://www.nokangaroomeat.org
And here we go again! It’s that time of the year boys and girls, when the shooters get out their guns and have a shooting spree till the end of June and wipe out thousands of beautiful, healthy, environmentally friendly, gentle kangaroos and their babies, the national icon we are all so proud of that we put its image on our aeroplanes, on logos ‘Proudly Australian Made’ and title our best rugby teams. (See http://candobetter.net/node/2063 )
Yet we also ‘humanely’ (of course) shoot the females, bash the offspring to death or chop off its still living head or leave the at-foot joeys orphaned to die alone, cold, hungry and afraid without their mother’s love and protection. And why? So we can feed to our dogs naturally. Also for fun.
In this case, it’s just for fun. Why? Because there is no science to back up these ‘culls’.
Daniel EIglesias from ACT Parks and Conservation talks about a kangaroo population ‘explosion’ within Canberra’s Nature Reserves. He says up to 3,427 kangaroos will be shot.
He says that ACT Parks has calculated the numbers by ‘sitting back and thinking how many kangaroos can these areas sustainably manage so we can have a healthy population of kangaroos, but also healthy populations of other animals.’
How incredibly scientific of them. I think nature has a way of balancing out populations very nicely, thank you Mr Iglesias, without man’s interference. In fact, every time man interferes, he ‘stuffs up’. Ever wonder why Australia has the worst reputation in the world for mammal extinctions sir? It’s because of government departments like yours, sitting comfortably back and playing God, rearranging the pawns in the game of Wildlife versus Man.
He goes on without giving any evidence so far of actual kangaroo numbers in the parks or any evidence of certain species being ‘threatened’ by kangaroos. He’d be hard pressed to come up with any proof like that, considering that kangaroos have been living in harmony with other species for up to 16 million years.
In fact, according to that report by the Canberra Environment and Sustainabillity Resource Centre, kangaroos help many species to survive, quite the reverse.
After that he expresses concern that grasslands and woodlands could be overgrazed by kangaroos, again with no evidence that it is happening, or in fact, has ever happened. There is no evidence, anywhere, of that. It’s all just a big myth.
And then he maligns our poor kangaroo for ‘soil loss’. Our soft-padded native kangaroo, creates soil loss. What about introduced feral livestock with hard hooves, wouldn’t they cause soil loss? Indeed, but they are off ACT Parks’ radar.
Parks assures us that while the cull is higher this year than last not to worry because it isn’t too many compared to the general kangaroo population. Is Iglesias comparing the numbers of kangaroos to be killed in Canberra’s Nature Reserves to the total numbers there or is he comparing numbers to be killed to the total kangaroo population of Australia?
No matter how good a year they have had, what with rainfall etc, each kangaroo can only give birth to one per year and of those born there is an 80% attrition rate, meaning only 20% survive. So it’s not like their population can double in 12 months. Besides the new kangaroos are still only joeys, 12 months old and dependent on their mothers. That means this year’s ‘cull’ will be primarily the killing of joeys since the ones not killed the previous year who are approaching 2 years of age are still not adults and only just independent of their mothers.
How sad and shameful. Read the media release at:-
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/06/02/3233396.htm
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/annual-cull-targets-3427-roos/2183173.aspx
http://canberra.iprime.com.au/index.php/news/prime-news/up-to-3427-kangaroos-to-be-culled
Hard questions need to be asked. For example:-
1. Has there been an official count of kangaroo populations on the six reserves where the killing is to take place?
2. Where is the proof and how did they arrive at the numbers?
3. Since the quota is 75% of the total estimated populations (3,427 out of 4,482), and since last year was a drought, where is the precautionary principle in action?
4. What if there is a drought next year (or any other disaster or epidemic disease which kangaroos suffer from) and you wiped out 75% last year, how can that be regarded as sustainable especially when the commercial quota is only 15-20%?
4A. Did you forget about the high to extreme risk or even certainty of a cascading of extinctions of various endangered species (insects, lizards etc.) if all kangas were removed altogether? Kangaroos are considered a keystone species in the ecosystem, that all other species relied upon for reasons relating to kangaroo dung. This means that if Parks "overshoot" with their killing total estimates and end up leaving no kangaroos in a particular area, that is likely to have a devastating impact on the species reliant upon the kangas' presence, including the endangered ones.
5. While kangaroos have lost their natural predator, the dingo, they now have a much more formidable predator i.e. humans (via habitat loss, feral dogs, foxes, barbed wire fences, cars, farmers with guns, hoons) and that is not even counting bushfires and drought. Why is Parks not factoring this in?
6. If there is no overgrazing by kangaroos and overgrazing causes loss of habitat and soil, why the concern for endangered species now or into the future? Don Fletcher's thesis clearly shows that there is no relationship between kangaroos and overgrazing, so kangaroos endangering species is a myth.
7. Why isn't Parks ACT introducing fertility controls (such as at Belconnen in 2008) or relocation.
8. Why aren't there wildlife corridors to help kangaroos move on should there be no more food for them in the future? If they could move out, there would never be a need for killing or relocating them.
9. What is the cost (yes the public is entitled to know) of shooting 3,500 kangaroos?
10. Will you be killing the in-pouch joeys or throwing them live into the pits with their dead mothers?
11. Will orphaned and bashed joeys be included in the death count?
12. Has there been any factoring in for kangaroos who will die from stress myopathy in coming weeks as a result of watching their families get murdered and fleeing in terror?
13. Would Parks ACT be willing to consider an urgent quote for relocation of the 'surplus' kangaroos?
14. Are livestock allowed to graze on Parks and Lands properties? If so, wouldn't that be more of a concern with regard to soil loss and overgrazing?
15. Has Parks ACT given any consideration to the effect of their 'culls' on wildlife-loving Australians, many of whom are right now unable to sleep or eat, suffering from depression and anger because of this 'cull'? What else would drive them to leave the comfort of their homes at night in sub-zero temperatures to go to the Nature Reserves and try to intervene, risking not only their health but also their lives (in case they are shot) and potentially their police records and finances (in case they are charged and fined)?
Contact the following:-
* [email protected] (Office of the Commissioner for Sustainability + Environment)
* [email protected] (Project Co-ordinator, Mulligans Flat Woodland Sanctuary)
* [email protected] (Chair – Steering Committee, Conservation Parks + Lands)
* [email protected] (Member of Parks and Lands)
* [email protected] (Member of Parks and Lands)
* [email protected] (Member of Parks and Lands) (02) 62 071-911
* [email protected] (Dr Tony Peacock, CRC for Biological Control of Pest Animals) 02 62 725 525
* [email protected] (Dr David Shorthouse, Member Parks ACT, Visiting Fellow ANU - 02 61-250 663)
* [email protected] (Dr Penny Olsen, ACT Flora and Fauna Committee Representative 02 61 252-536)
* [email protected] (Dr Adrian Manning, ANU, member Parks ACT 02 61 255-415)
* [email protected] (ACT Minister for the Environment, Simon Corbell MLA)
* [email protected] (ACT Chief Minister – Katy Gallagher)
http://www.pm.gov.au/contact-your-pm (PM Julia Gillard)
* [email protected] (Federal Minister for Environment, Tony Burke)
* [email protected] (RSPCA endorses all ACT culls)
*****
Or better still, go to Canberra and be present to watch and document the sordid massacre of our country’s national icon and their babies. That is one thing the killers hate, to be watched doing their dirty deeds. You might even be called to a protest. I hope there will be a huge one in Canberra one day, the sooner the better, with thousands of people rallying against the largest slaughter of land-based wildlife on the planet - i.e. kangaroos.
GETUP PETITION:
Please vote for the kangaroos. You can use up to 10 votes per issue. At present kangaroos are at #79 so we need more votes. Please get the word out to your friends. Thanks.
http://suggest.getup.org.au/forums/60819-campaign-ideas/suggestions/1142043-stop-the-shocking-cruelty-in-the-kangaroo-trade?ref=title
Parks and Conservation Service Manager Daniel Iglesias says up to 3427 kangaroos will be "culled" in the ACT. It's really no more than like pulling out a few errand weeds, and it's for their own benefit!
Ostensibly it is to maintain populations to appropriate levels to protect the integrity of ecosystems, several of which contain endangered flora and fauna. It's no more than a matter of thinning out some of those nuisance and feral kangaroos to allow genuine natural ecosystems and native species to flourish, and of course a government department will want to be seen protecting endangered flora and fauna! It's also so the grasslands are not overgrazed, and thus provide habitat for ground-feeding birds and other creatures on the ground. Lethal management sounds quite in order and even logical! It's all very politically correct. Who could argue against conservation science? Forget that these "pests" are our native iconic animals, family mobs, living where they rightly live!
The sites to be closed are Mulligans Flat Nature Reserve, Goorooyaroo Nature Reserve, Mount Painter Nature Reserve, Callam Brae Nature Reserve, Jerrabomberra West Nature Reserve, Kama Nature Reserve and unleased territory land adjacent to Kama Nature Reserve. These “nature” parks are closed to kill native animals because they've been too successful! Can anyone else see the irony here?
The explanation for the "cull", or population control of kangaroos, appears to be quite scientific and ecologically sound. However, the science to support all these allegations is not evident or being revealed to the public. The Canberra and wider public deserve to know.
In an ABC interview, Mr Iglesias refused to answer questions about the number of kangaroos actually in ACT nature parks currently closed for shooting and how the joeys of shot females would be killed. Kangaroos are part of nature, but apparently not in the ACT's parks. Does he really know the density of kangaroos, their numbers, and if so, where are the results of the surveys?
There should be evidence of overgrazing by kangaroos, and where. We should know what species are starving due to kangaroos overgrazing.
Kangaroos have been evolving harmoniously with all other species for 16 million years, something we modern humans have failed to do in our relatively short history in post-Colonial Australia. As for soil loss and erosion, it is mainly caused by livestock, not our soft-footed native marsupials that are perfectly adapted to our soils and vegetation.
The kangaroo "cull" sounds all very clinical has all the terminology of bona fide and deceptively robust science. However, the science isn't forthcoming, and cannot be validated or verified. True science encourages skepticism, reviews and inquiry, not stonewalling and political deception.
Minister Simon Corbell, chief of staff for the Environment said he had been toying around with so that we can find out the density of kangaroos across these nature reserves. He could not give the area of these nature reserves. The remaining kangaroos will be far less than the manufactured and magical limit of one kangaroo per hectare, according to what is set by their pseudo-science.
Don Fletcher on the Population Dynamics of Eastern Grey Kangaroos in Temperate Grasslands, seemed to previously discredit claims at the basis of these culls, and the need to manage reserves down to one kangaroo per hectare. For instance, he wrote on page 237 of his study that :
The study did not provide evidence that high densities of kangaroos reduce groundcover to the levels where erosion can accelerate. Unmanaged kangaroo populations did not necessarily result in low levels of ground cover. Groundcover had a positive but not significant relationship to kangaroo density, with the highest cover at the wettest site where kangaroo density was highest. Weather has an important influence on groundcover.
Kangaroos and grasslands have evolved in harmony together for tens of thousands of years and are mutually dependent. There is copious scientific evidence to prove this – and the scientists actually went out into the field rather than making subjective evalutions.
This "cull" represents 3/4 of the estimated population of kangaroos in the parks and will see the brutal death of around 1000 pouch joeys. ACT Parks and Lands staff say the cull is to stop starvation in case of a drought. Another source from Parks and Lands say there is no overgrazing! They say there is no overgrazing this year as there is plenty of grass but they need to kill kangaroos because their populations have increased by 60% and if they wait till future droughts they will have to kill even more kangaroos. They were worried about future conditions for these species if kangaroo populations are allowed to flourish. Ironically, no-one seems to worry about the misanthropic “future conditions” of human population growth!
A great environmental threatening process now is urban sprawl, far more impacting than the perceived "overpopulation" of wildlife!
Furred pouch young are killed by a single forceful blow to the base of the skull (e.g. by a steel water pipe or the tow bar of a vehicle) and small furless pouch young are killed by decapitation or a single forceful blow to the base of the skull.30 A number of studies have shown that there is doubt as to whether the current methods of killing joeys ensure a sudden and painless death.
In many places, killing of young wildlife is considered an unacceptable practice, as evidenced by the banning of the products from Canadian Harp Seals in many countries, including the US, Mexico, Russia and the European Union (Keely Boom and Dror Ben-Ami Shooting our Wildlife: an analysis of the law and policy governing the killing of kangaroos THINKK)
This is subjective assessment of "too many" kangaroos - not about ecology or science of any type. They are hiding behind terms used in bona fide science, but it's greenwashing
Perhaps a ‘Four Corners’ on Australia’s treatment of its iconic and internationally-recognised native animals might go some way towards exposing the corruption and cruelty of the and “animal welfare” of the “cull” just like they exposed and uncovered Australia's vile and horrific live export trade.
Chair - Stephen Hughes, Manager, Parks and Reserves
Parks Conservation and Lands (PCL)
Email: [email protected]
Contact Officer: Daniel Iglesias (02) 6205 7151 [email protected]
How our taxes are used in hospitals and other prevention and treatment modalities is of almost as much importance as how our access to shelter and food are or are not guaranteed by our political systems. The Public Health Association of Australia has a broad interpretation of public health and is thus interested in population policy and housing. It is important to support the PHAA to influence public policy in all of these areas. The Association has a network throughout Australia, in rural and urban areas. As such it is among several organisations which has some potential to combat aspects of the property and finance based Growth Lobby in Australia.
The ACT Branch of the Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA) cordially invites you to:
PHAA's Great Election Public Health Debate and Dinner
PHAA's Great Election Public Health Debate, to be held at the Hellenic Club in Woden on the evening of Tuesday 10 August 2010, is designed to enable one candidate from each of the major parties to answer key questions and provide information on party policies on public health issues ahead of the federal election on Saturday 21 August 2010.
Gai Brodtmann, ACT Labor candidate for Canberra; Senator Gary Humphries from the Canberra Liberals; and Lin Hatfield Dodds, ACT Greens Senate candidate, have kindly agreed to participate in the event.
Candidates will each have an opportunity to provide a short overview of party policies on public health issues and will then be asked to provide answers to a series of questions on key public health issues in the national context. Candidates will also take part in a short question and answer session with the audience.
Link to invitation/RSVP Form.
The invitation/RSVP form is also available on the PHAA website at: www.phaa.net.au
RSVP: Please complete the form and fax to PHAA at (02) 6282 5438 by
WEDNESDAY 4 AUGUST 2010.
Source:
Melanie Walker
Deputy CEO
Public Health Association of Australia
On 18th June, the ACT Government advised that areas within the Canberra Nature Park would be closed from 19 June to 31 July 2010 to allow for the controlled culling of 'over-abundant' Eastern Grey Kangaroos. The sites closed were Callum Brae Nature Reserve, Crace Nature Reserve, Goorooyarroo Nature Reserve, Jerrabomberra West Nature Reserve, Kama Nature Reserve, Mount Painter Nature Reserve, Mulligan’s Flat Nature Reserve and unleased territory land adjacent to Kama Nature Reserve.
This makes a mockery of 'nature park' when there is supposed to be a higher level of protection for native animals than in National Parks. It also makes a mockery of democracy when there was no public consultation on the cull. It also makes a mockery of science when the ecological benefits of native species is totally disregarded.
The purpose of this cull is to 'maintain kangaroo populations at appropriate levels to protect the integrity of ecosystems, several of which contain endangered flora and fauna such as Grassland Earless Dragon, Golden Sun Moth, Striped Legless Lizard, Perunga Grasshopper and threatened plants such as the Button Wrinklewort (a perennial herb).'
Apparently they are worried that the grasslands and woodlands will be overgrazed by kangaroos and threaten species and ecosystems. Yet where is the proof of this? I would like to see before and after photos. Since when do kangaroos create excessive soil loss and destroy habit for ground-feeding birds? That is something sheep, cows and humans do, not native species.
The cull is part of the recently released Kangaroo Management Plan (KMP) which sets out the ACT Government’s approach to managing the environmental, economic and social impacts of kangaroos to ensure their numbers are maintained at a sustainable level into the future.
I wonder when humans are going to maintain their own species at a sustainable level? It's obvious that the greatest threat to our native grasslands and woodlands is not kangaroos but human activity.
Apparently relocation (a compassionate approach) has been ruled out because 'that would be offloading the problem to another location' and lead to their starvation. How considerate of them. Killing them is better than saving them.
Why do we continue to close off green corridors with new housing estates and expressways that fragment Nature Parks leaving wildlife with nowhere to go? Until the government acknowledges this, the bloodshed will continue until kangaroos are no longer on the face of this continent. The relentless slaughter of healthy kangaroos is creating an ecological depression* which could very really push kangaroos over the edge of the precipice to extinction. We can already see signs of that at http://www.stopkangarookilling.org
(Flier: Sylvia Raye)
The RSPCA has failed abysmally to point out the sheer cruelty of the way joeys are despatched. Until a truly 'humane' way of killing baby kangaroos can be found no further slaughter should be allowed by anybody.
When a female kangaroo is shot, any 'in pouch' babies are killed by bashing their heads in. Also, as shooters have difficulty locating 'at foot' kangaroos (these are baby kangaroos still dependant on their mothers), whose mothers have been shot, these babies will most likely die a slow painful death from starvation, dehydration or predation.
ACT Hypocrisy
Does the ACT government really think we have not noticed their hypocrisy? On the one hand they blame kangaroos for damaging grasslands and endangered species while themselves approving environmentally destructive projects such as:-
- 73 hectares red/yellow box to be destroyed in West Hume
- Canberra Airport runway extension dissecting Earless dragon colony
- Canberra Airport freight, shopping and office hubs built over and dissecting grasslands
- Proposed Cowan Expressway dissecting grasslands
- New and extended AFP training facility over Majura grasslands
- Dept of Defence Majura Training Area extended due to the increased volume of Defence training and traffic
- Symonston Long Stay Caravan Park debacle where land of high grassland value was sacrificed as compensation to developer
- Lawson Housing estate to be built over endangered colonies in the water tower section of the BNTS site
- Decontamination earthworks at the BNTS site wiped out tracts of grassland
- Irreversible damage done to BNTS grasslands by vehicles driven continuously across the grasslands to round up and slaughter kangaroos in May 2008
- New mega-housing estate at Downer destroying more grassland/woodland habitat that backs onto Nature Park
- Where are the 'Friends of Grasslands' and 'Limestone Plains Group of Scientists' on these issues? We haven't heard a peep.
Australia's Culling Territory
Cull after cull, the ACT is gaining the reputation as the Australian Culling Territory.
Why the obsession with exterminating kangaroos? In May 2008, 514 kangaroos were killed at Belconnen Naval Transmission Station and the reason given by the ACT Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment was:-
'At BNTS the natural temperate grassland is the habitat of the perunga grasshopper (which the Minister, on the recommendation of the Flora and Fauna Committee, has declared to be a vulnerable species), the golden sun moth and the ginninderra peppercress (both of which the Minister, on the recommendation of the Flora and Fauna Committee, has declared to be endangered species). Another vulnerable species, the striped legless lizard, has been found outside the secure area; however, it was most likely present in the secure area at BNTS in former years. Under the EPBC Act the golden sun moth is listed as critically endangered and the ginninderra peppercress and striped legless lizard are listed as vulnerable.'
The advice of experts who recommended against the cull was not taken into account. The offer to professionally relocate these kangaroos was rejected. As if that was not enough, because toxic contaminants were found in the soil at BNTS the remediation of the land naturally caused massive damage to all the above species and was not even questioned.
After the slaughter 4 wheel drives turned the place into a dust bowl. Then in came the earth movers to take out the toxic soil remediation required for the area to be a new housing estate. So much concern for endangered species or grasslands. The legless striped lizard, golden sun moth and ginninderra peppergrass were all buried without any further ado.
The construction of new housing estates immediately adjacent to the area gave no concern to the government. What about the dust and fumes from cars and trucks, the footsteps of people plodding through BNTS walking their dogs, playing with their children, and their cats killing fauna, wouldn't that have a damaging effect on endangered species?
There was no evidence that kangaroos threatened any endangered species but plenty of evidence that humans did.
Majura
Since Belconnen there have been several other large culls. In May 2009 over 7000 kangaroos were killed by the ACT government at Majura Firing Range once again on the grounds of 'degraded grasslands'. Once again, only junk science to back it up. No other options considered, no conservation experts bar Don Fletcher and RSPCA who know nothing of marsupials (their specialty is cats and dogs). Our experts were not called in but they were discriminated against because they have the best interests of the kangaroos at heart.
Callum Brae
And in July 2009 550 kangaroos were 'culled' at Callum Brae, Nature Park in Canberra. The usual story i.g. kangaroos were eating too much grass but nobody talked about the degradation of grasslands by cows or sheep. Most likely the kangaroos at Callum Brae were deemed to be a problem by local farmers. Farmers hate kangaroos. Why don't farmers erect kangaroo-proof fencing instead of killing them on sight? Sheep's grazing pressure is 10-20 times higher than kangaroos so we are focusing on the wrong target.
As usual, it was declared that the cull would be 'conducted in the most humane way with highly trained marksmen using high-powered rifles according to the code of practice including hairless joeys to be decapitated and larger joeys shot at close range or injected.' Even Landcare said they were 'happy' with the 'cull.' What kind of monsters have we turned into?
Ecological benefit of Kangaroos
It's also time the ecological benefits of kangaroos on the land were acknowledged by governments, farmers, ordinary people i.e.
1. Kangaroos lessen the possibility of bushfires by eating dry grass that ignites easily.
2. Their soft padded feet and long tail are integral to the ecological health of the land, as regenerators of native grasses. Any seedling that falls into the long-tapering footprint of the kangaroo is buried into the hole left by the toenail. Covered and with moisture concentrated at one point, the germinated seedling has a chance of survival. Their tail drags along behind them while they are grazing, pressing the ground, rolling seeds into the earth.
3. Kangaroos also help regenerate native grasses (which is their preferred food) by excreting these seeds onto the ground thereby spreading the growth of grasses, undoing the damage caused by livestock which is turning this country into a dustbowl.
4. Kangaroos play an undeniable role in biological diversity and ecological integrity.
5. Their urine and faeces is a natural fertilizer (not excessively high in nitrogen which pollutes ground and surface water like livestock waste), essential to the health of the soil meaning that many species depend on kangaroos.
6. Unlike livestock kangaroos do not produce greenhouse gases (methane, nitrous oxide), drink massive quantities of water, cause soil erosion, loss of soil nutrients and soil ecosystems leading to deserts. Nor do they destroy wildlife like the livestock industry does by shooting, deforestation and habitat destruction. If they were allowed to co-exist with livestock they could undo the extreme imbalance caused by cattle. Government statistics show that kangaroos only exert 1-8% of grazing pressure on land.
Therefore, the more kangaroos, the better for the land.
Kangaroo Extinction Around the Corner?
It's time we had a real government environment department that did proper studies on how to protect our native species from extinction. Australia has the highest rate of wildlife extinctions in the world because our government is in collusion with the Kangaroo Industry, which it subsidises. If it had any economic sense it would be supporting nature-based eco tourism worth $85 billion to Australia (compared to a measly $250 million to the kangaroo industry). A kangaroo is worth more alive than dead.
Take a look at how kangaroo populations have crashed since 2001 on
http://www.environment.gov.au/soe/2006/publications/drs/indicator/162/index.html)
You can see that half of them have gone in less than 10 years. Shouldn't we be taking the precautionary approach, considering the drought and other factors? What would Australia be without any kangaroos? We would have to take the kangaroo off our national emblem, off Qantas jets, we would have to rename rugby teams and every business that uses kangaroo on their logo would have to remove it so as not to have the constant reminder of how we have FAILED to protect these magnificent animals.
It's time the ACT government was challenged on their view that kangaroos overgraze (their own literature shows that kangaroos only have 1-8% grazing pressure compared to sheep and cows - http://www.environment.gov.au/soe/2006/publications/drs/indicator/162/index.html )
Another report from CSIRO shows that kangaroos do not threaten sheep: http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/WR9740027.htm
I can't help but wonder if in a few short years governments, due to their chronic short-sightedness and predictable mismanagement, will be pleading for endangered kangaroo species whom it helped drive to the state of quasi extinction just as with the Grassland Earless Dragon.
Not only for tourism but consider some of the new information coming out about biodiversity.
It's time people woke up to the horrific way we are trashing our wildlife in particular our national icon. These are sentient beings with feelings we are talking about, not pests to be dispensed with because they are 'in our way'.
Who is the Real Pest?
Kangaroos have been living harmoniously with their environment without driving a single species extinct for at least 16 million years and they are perfectly suited to their natural habitat. Government's speculation that kangaroos are driving other species extinct is a projection on man's part. Only man is causing the 6th Mass Extinction of all species on the planet and that is a scientific fact. Man's insistence on destructive European farming techniques has caused a large part of the problem in addition to urban spread putting too much pressure on native species by destroying and polluting their habitat.
The result of all these cumulative government 'culls' (in addition to the illegal killing, farmers quotas, roadkill, loss of habitat, fires, floods, drought) will lead us to ecological impoverishment.
The Role of Farmers
Additionally the intolerance of farmers towards kangaroos who put pressure on politicians to kill kangaroos needs to change. We need to adopt a mentality of 'live and let live'.
Personally I would like to see the livestock industry fold. There are many other reasons for this besides the threat to any fauna that is not a cow, sheep or cattle dog. The livestock industry causes deforestation (a major influence in causing the drought) and biodiversity loss from loss of habitat for wildlife. It also causes pollution of groundwater and surface water and pollution to the air through methane and nitrous oxide. Then there is soil erosion and loss of soil ecosystems from the hoofed feet and the fact that cows and sheep pull up grass by the roots. Finally the incredible amount of water needed dwarfs all other industries combined. Clearly the only diet for a sustainable future is a plant-based diet. That would take up less land than livestock require and with kangaroo-proof fencing there would be nothing for farmers to complain about. It would be a win-win situation for wildlife and farmers.
Kangaroos are not overpopulated. Sheep are overpopulated (there are 5 times more sheep than kangaroos) and the human race is definitely overpopulated (at 7 billion). Kangaroos were here first remember and should have the simple right to live in peace.
Once again, humans are the main culprit of endangered species and it is wrong to blame another species that has always lived in harmony with the land.
****
* An ecological depression is where a species critical mass is reduced to where the species can no longer survive due to factors such as a compromised gene pool and disease.
Many thanks to Y.IZITSO for her brilliant cartoons.
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