cull

The photographs in this article 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?

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.

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!

Correspondence from David O'Byrne, Minister for Environment, Parks and Heritage, 31 August, 2010.
"All culling is undertaken by Government officers who are trained, accredited and experienced in wildlife management and who operate in accordance with all relevant national and Tasmanian standards. Moreover, the program is supervised by a veterinary officer who has animal welfare a priority of their work ".
Really!

Just when you thought ACT had no competition for its wildlife extermination program, Tasmania decided to do another 'cull' of native macropods (Bennetts wallabies, Forrester Kangaroos and pademelons) on Maria Island. Just 2 years ago they virtually wiped out whatever was there and now they are back to kill another 600!!! The island is barred from visitation so who knows what happens to the bodies, how they are killed and how many?

The one place where you'd think our native animals, our national icon would be safe - a nature park. Yet the ACT government has ordered yet another cull in no less than seven nature parks in Canberra. This time for 1,890 kangaroos (joeys uncounted as usual). The grounds for such a cull? Oh yes, to protect endangered species like the perunga grasshopper, legless striped lizard, the Golden Sun Moth and grasses. Since when does a native species degrade the environment? Only ferals do that - like homo sapiens!

The culling of 100 kangaroos is already underway at the Preston Beach Golf Club near Mandurah in Western Australia. Calls to erect a physical barrier between the course and the adjacent Yalgorup National Park have fallen on deaf ears. This is the second time in 3 years such a cull has been approved by the DEC for this two-bit golf club.

What you can do: Protest on Wednesday the 5th of May at 4pm at Preston Beach.

Kangaroos are nationally denigrated as 'pests' and in plague proportions. But are they? This article finally reveals the critical ecological significance of kangaroos and compares them to feral livestock, who are conveniently ignored in the discussion of pests and plagues of pests.

ACT Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment, Dr Maxine Cooper, is ACT's inaugural full-time Commissioner in the role, yet what relevant environmental qualifications and experience does the incumbent have, or indeed lack, to be officially condemning another local indigenous popluation of Australia's iconic marsupials, our kangaroos, to slaughter for pet food?

Defence Dept Secretary, Mike Kelly insists there are too many kangaroos at Majura Training Area in Canberra. He wants to kill up to 6,000. He says they are starving and degrading rare grasslands. But there is no proof of either claim and the stats are unreliable. This looks like the same ugly pattern as we saw in Belconnen May 2008...see also ABC video footage (5th one down) of protests today 15 April against Majura killing proposals and attend protest Thursday 16th April in front of Canberra Centre shopping complex at 12 noon.

See also: "Majura demonstration in Canberra" on www.canadianvoiceforanimals.org, "Another Slaughter of kangaroos planned" of 14 Apr 09 on Quaker Concern for Animals web site.

We were told that the 514 kangaroos at Belconnen Naval Transmission Station could not be relocated to other properties and had to be 'culled.' The reason given was that the kangaroos were a threat to certain endangered species - the Golden Sun Moth, Gininderra Peppergrass and Striped Legless Lizard. Yet cows were grazing in adjacent properties - were they not a threat to these species too? The RSPCA demanded the cull as relocation could risk their death. The RSPCA insisted the kangaroos were starving even though local activists said they looked in good condition throughout the year. So what was really going on....?

See also: "Defence kiboshes Belconnen grassland refuge plan" of 30 Sep 08, "Defence to clean up Belconnen site" of 30 Sep 08, Remediation of the Belconnen Naval Transmission Station" of 22 Oct 08, "Belconnen Kangaroo massacre" of 30 May 08.