Kangaroo Archives 31
Animal rights groups have renewed their campaign for the kangaroo meat industry to be shut down, saying the meat can carry a potentially dangerous disease. Animal Liberation and the Wildlife Protection Association of Australia want the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) to urgently act on the issue by testing for the disease toxoplasmosis at kangaroo storage centres and processing plants. Humans are infected with toxoplasmosis by eating raw or undercooked meat. Symptoms include swollen lymph glands or muscle aches and pains, and in severe cases it can cause damage to the brain, eyes and other organs. Animal Liberation executive director Mark Pearson said kangaroos were not slaughtered in a typical abattoir with all the regulatory processes in place. Kangaroo Industry Association of Australia executive officer John Kelly said toxoplasmosis is a risk in all undercooked meat. "Kangaroos can have significantly lower levels of toxoplasmosis than sheep," Mr Kelly said. *Courier Mail Ed Comment; This story was widely reported around Austrlaia, on radio, TV, and printed media.* ******************** The Australian Federal Police has sensationally scuttled Defence's bid to shoot thousands of kangaroos, warning a member of the public could get shot. But not all the kangaroos might be saved with about 400 of the animals in question to be killed, possibly by lethal injection instead. Animal welfare activists say the move is no different to shooting them and have vowed to continue their international campaign against the cull. Activists believe it would be the first kangaroo cull using lethal injections in Australia's history. Defence originally said it wanted to shoot the kangaroos because there were too many of them, they faced starvation due to the drought, and they were damaging their environment. However, the ACT Government banned Defence yesterday from shooting the animals because of the federal police's safety concerns. There were grave fears that protesters, who had threatened to disrupt the two culls, might get shot. The AFP was also worried Kaleen residents could be at risk if bullets went astray at the Belconnen cull. The other cull was planned for Majura. Media from around the world reported on the controversial cull of 800 kangaroos at Googong Dam in 2004. The ACT Government's acting conservator of flora and fauna, Russell Watkinson, said public safety was the main reason he rejected Defence's application for the two licences. Mr Watkinson said the Belconnen cull, in which Defence planned to kill 400 eastern grey kangaroos at Lawson's Naval Transmission Station, was too risky. Bullets could ricochet in unexpected directions. "There's quite close proximity to houses around the boundaries," he said. "That site was always going to be difficult with shooting." The Majura Training Area, where Defence applied to shoot 2800 kangaroos, is not bounded by housing. But it is a live firing range with unexploded munitions in the ground. Mr Watkinson said there were also concerns about the shooters' safety. Defence's applications for cull licences have been put on hold officially, but shooting has effectively been ruled out unless Defence can prove there will be no danger to people. However, Mr Watkinson said some kangaroos could still be culled, by darting them with a sedative, then administering a lethal injection. "There's a potential that we could use darting at the Belconnen site," Mr Watkinson said. Belconnen might be suitable for darting because it was a small site. It would be difficult at Majura because it was such a large site. Mr Watkinson said non-lethal darting had been used at Belconnen successfully during a kangaroo contraceptive trial. The coordinator of the National Kangaroo Protection Coalition, Pat O'Brien, said he was delighted to hear the shooting licences were refused but was dismayed at the lethal injection proposal. "That's a terrible way to kill a roo," he said. "That's no different to shooting them ... they might as well shoot them and be done with it. I can guarantee there will be protests." Mr O'Brien said darting was a difficult process in which kangaroos got darts stuck in their eyes and legs and lurched through the bush. Pursuing them with a lethal injection would be distressing. "It's totally impractical, the whole idea is just nonsense," he said. Mr O'Brien said he was not surprised at the AFP's concerns about the shooting proposal. Shooters used high-powered centre-fire rifles and bullets could carry for miles. While he had advised activists not to try to disrupt the culls because it would be unsafe, some would still enter the cull areas. He was disappointed at the lethal injection proposal because he had thought Defence was backing away from the cull due to the negative publicity it had attracted. Defence declined to comment beyond saying, "Defence continues to work closely and consult with a number of civil authorities, including the ACT Government, and community organisations to find solutions to this problem." Canberra Times Ed Comment; There are other issues of concern with a kill done by shooting with a dart gun, apart from humane issues. THe ACT government is one of the most dispicable governments that WPAA has ever had to deal with. Most of the kangaroo information on their website is not just plain wrong, but also deliberately misleading. There are also legal issues in relation to using a kill process that breaches the Federal Code of Practice for killing kangaroos...especially on Commonwealth land. More later!* ******************* Talks on plan to cull kangaroos postponed Canberra: Defence officials deferred talks with animal activists about a plan to shoot more than 3,000 kangaroos on the fringe of Australia's capital, prompting the conservationists to claim yesterday their campaign to stop the cull was working. The Defence Department wrote to animal welfare groups yesterday to cancel a meeting planned for today to discuss the cull, saying the talks were "probably premature" and that other options were being considered. "Defence is still considering the available options for kangaroo management at both sites," the department's regional manager Larry Robbins wrote to the groups, without elaborating on those options. Defence sparked a furore when it applied early this month for local government permits to hire professional shooters to cull the kangaroos. It said the animals are in plague numbers at two sites the department owns on Canberra's outskirts, and threaten to eat themselves and other animals into starvation. News of the rethink was welcomed by Pat O'Brien, president of Wildlife Protection Association of Australia, which has as its patrons the family of the late "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin. O'Brien suspected the department was backing down because of hundreds of complaints directed at Defence Minister Brendan Nelson in an election year since the cull plan was revealed earlier this month. "I'm sure there's been a lot of political flak flying around the place over this, so they're rethinking their options," O'Brien said, adding it was too early to claim a complete victory. *Gulf News, Dubai ***************** Don't shoot the kangaroos. At least not yet. That's what police in Australia are telling the country's Defense Department. Government officials had applied for approval to kill more than three-thousand kangaroos near the capital, Canberra. About 6,500 of the animals have overrun government facilities there. Police say the shooting could pose a risk to people and plans to kill the kangaroos should be put on hold until those safety concerns can be addressed. Animal welfare advocates are happy. They want the government to consider some non-lethal options. But defense officials say the kangaroos may starve because of overgrazing and they're destroying the natural habitat of endangered species. *WCYK.com US ***************** Wildlife Victoria is concerned about a rise in the number of attacks on kangaroos across the state. The organisation says kangaroos are increasingly becoming the victims of roadside shootings and other cruel activities. Wildlife workers found an injured kangaroo that had been shot in the head at Denver, in central Victoria, 10 days ago. The large male kangaroo has since been put down. Wildlife Victoria president John Rowdon says the increased violence may be partly due to the drought, which is forcing kangaroos to roadsides for food. "Because there are more kangaroos visible at the moment with more coming into the grassed areas and being on the side of the road, it's actually encouraging people to, I don't know, take a bit more interest, and therefore it's encouraging the bad elements of society to go out there and do what they do," he said. *ABC ***************** Roo meatworks urges interstate trade restrictions Operators of a kangaroo meatworks are calling on the Queensland Government to restrict the interstate trade of kangaroo carcasses to avoid reaching the annual kill limit prematurely. The kangaroo meat industry will shut down when this year's harvest quota of 1.9 million kangaroos is reached. John Burey from United Game Processes in Charleville says there has been an influx of South Australian and New South Wales processors who are buying Queensland kangaroos and using up the limited quota. "Their quota's not going to run out in South Australia, so once ours runs out they're just going to go back home again and continue processing throughout the year while our blokes are sitting on their hands," he said. Mr Burey says the quota could be reached by October this year and will leave harvesters and processing staff without an income for the remainder of the year. Mr Burey wants the State Government to intervene while the drought restricts the harvest quota. *ABC ****************** WA Environment Minister David Templeman said callous cowards left a kangaroo to die with a large archer's arrow piercing its neck at the weekend. Mr Templeman said Department of Environment and Conservation wildlife officers and police were investigating the shooting of the kangaroo near Mundaring Weir. The Minister today released shocking footage of the kangaroo with the arrow protruding from its neck in the hope it would prompt witnesses to come forward so the culprits could be prosecuted. Mr Templeman said the kangaroo had apparently been deliberately shot with the arrow days ago and was struggling to move. It would have died a painful death had it not been for members of the public who alerted authorities so it could be euthanased humanely. "This kangaroo has apparently fallen victim to a coward who derives some sort of twisted thrill from engaging in blood sport," he said. "It just beggars belief that someone could do this to a creature and leave it to die an agonising death. There are ranges where people can test their archery skills. Using harmless animals like kangaroos for target practise is something that is not only illegal, it is completely inhumane." "I call on anyone with any information to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 and I ask that we all join together as a community to condemn animal cruelty of any kind.The Minister said this was the third incident involving kangaroos being shot with arrows. The other two were at The Vines in the Swan Valley in March and at Joondalup in April. Kangaroos were protected under the Wildlife Conservation Act and penalties of up to $4,000 could be imposed for breaches of the Act. Cases like this reinforce why we are drafting new biodiversity legislation that will see penalties for deliberately harming protected wildlife raised to $50,000,? Mr Templeman said. This will be in line with current animal welfare legislation and underlines the Carpenter Government?s commitment to protecting and preserving our unique environment.? Minister's office - 9220 5050 *Newswire *************** Below are a few snippets of advice to farmers from ACT landcare! 2006 Rural Kangaroo Cull By now all of you should have received information relating to the 2006 rural kangaroo culling program. As with previous years it is recommended that as many of you as possible apply for your licences prior to the commencement of the season, even if you are not certain that you will go ahead with the cull. We are unable to approve licences to be issued outside of the permitted culling period. It costs nothing to apply and you can return unused tags without penalty. Start shooting early as you can apply for a further licence if you have culled your permitted number and submitted a return. Landnews April 2006 Target females to slow down population recovery. Keep on top of numbers by shooting every year, even during good seasons. The shooter proficiency testing was undertaken prior to last years culling season and will not be repeated again until next year. Only shooters accredited by the Australian Federal Police are eligible to cull kangaroos in the ACT. The Environment ACT Rural Ranger can be contacted on 6207 2486 to provide a list of those accredited Landnews enquiries should be directed to: Rebecca Blundell Landcare Coordinator Ph: 62072145, Fax: 62072544 PO Box 158 Caberra ACT 2601 Published by Arts, Heritage and Environment General Enquiries: Phone Canberra Connect on 13 22 81 Website: www.cmd.act.gov.au **************** Kangaroo attacks disabled toddler at theme park AN Eagleby mother has hit out at what she claims to be an ``uncaring'' and ``casual'' response by staff at Dreamworld (Gold Coast) after her two-year-old son was attacked by a kangaroo. Stacey Gerritsen said at the time of the attack she feared the kangaroo would disembowel her son, Heath, who has cerebral palsy. In a written statement to the News on Monday morning, Dreamworld chief operating officer Kevin Bradley ``expressed his sincere empathy for any distress the incident may have caused to the guest and his mother.'' He said guest safety was Dreamworld's number one priority and a full investigation had been launched. Ms Gerritsen was visiting the theme park with Heath, her three-year-old daughter Brielle and a friend last Wednesday. She said Heath was ``scooped up and whacked across the face twice'' by the kangaroo in the animal enclosure at about 2.30pm. Panicking, Ms Gerritsen said she lifted the kangaroo off her son and ``hurled it to the left''. ``It happened so quickly,'' she said. She said the kangaroo scratched her son on the forehead, cheek and eye, drawing blood and leaving deep welts. She said there was no wildlife ranger in the grounds at the time of the attack to help her.``I shouldn't have been left to whip a kangaroo off my child,''. Ms Gerritsen said one of the staff gave her a wet cloth to wipe her son's face after the attack and suggested she take him to the park's health care centre. She went to the centre unaccompanied to seek assistance, but it was unattended. A nurse was eventually called after Ms Gerritsen spoke with staff at the park's entrance. Ms Gerritsen said the male nurse provided some antiseptic swabs and an ice block. She rang the theme park the following day and lodged an official complaint. According to the Dreamworld statement, an independent witness reported to Dreamworld staff that the child was not supervised and was ``exhibiting behaviour that provoked the animal'', an allegation Ms Gerritsen denies. ``It's meant to be a fun park, a theme park, but it was traumatic, shocking,'' she said. On Tuesday morning after he had rung Ms Gerritsen to apologise, Mr Bradley told the News the incident was still being investigated. ``And we are changing procedures as we go,'' he said. On the advice of Heath's doctor, Ms Gerritsen is taking her son back to pat the kangaroos at Dreamworld today. *Logan News ******************** RECENT feedback from RACV's Wildlife Connect service indicates a statewide increase in vehicle collisions with animals, particularly kangaroos. As the data relates to warmer months, the majority of incidents can be attributed to drought conditions forcing animals away from habitats and closer to roads in search of food. However, even in winter it pays to keep an eye out for wildlife on or near the road, as well as warning signs alerting motorists to the presence of animals such as wallabies, koalas and kangaroos. As a male adult kangaroo weighs up to 60kg, colliding with one can cause significant damage to a car and injury to its occupants, and, depending on variables including vehicle speed, serious injury or death to the marsupial. Feeding times at dusk and dawn are particularly risky times as animals become increasingly active and venture towards roads. During these periods, visibility is greatly reduced, making it harder to see animals ahead.When you see animal warning signs, always reduce your speed, regardless of roadside fencing as a determined and hungry animal will not let a fence stand in the way of food. Once on a fenced road, animals may be trapped and panic when a vehicle appears. Driving slower in wildlife zones will enable greater reaction time and a better chance of avoiding a collision. If you spot an animal ahead, dip your headlights to avoid dazzling or transfixing it. Animals are unpredictable, so where possible, give them plenty of time and room to move off the road when passing. Brake safely and, if necessary, sound your horn in a series of short bursts, then drive slowly past. Finally, remember that your safety comes first. If you see an animal, your natural instinct may be to swerve sharply to avoid hitting it, but this could put you and other motorists in danger. If you are unlucky enough to hit an animal or find an injured animal, phone RACV Wildlife Connect on 13 11 11 to be put in touch with a volunteer wildlife organisation that can provide advice and assistance. RACV Wildlife Connect is part of RACV's five-year, $1 million partnership with Zoos Victoria, supporting the Australian Wildlife Health Centre at Healesville Sanctuary.It operates in conjunction with established volunteer wildlife rescue organisations, Help for Wildlife, Wildlife Victoria and Wildlife Rescue and Information Network. *Cranbourne Sun ******************* `THIS may be a dumb question, but do you have kangaroos where you live?'' asked the sweet-faced Hawaiian woman doing the airport pick-up in Maui. ``An hour's drive from where I live you can see kangaroos by the roadside, but because of the drought they are being culled,'' I explained. ``You are killing Skippy?'' she shrieked in horror. ``Not just killing, but eating,'' I continued. ``Kangaroo meat is low in fat and high in iron and flavour. In Australia we throw kangaroo steaks and sausages on the barbecue.'' She was dumbfounded but her face screamed ``How could you!'' ``Do you eat koalas too?'' she asked in a small, frightened voice. ``Of course not, they're too tough to barbecue.'' So we cull and eat one of our national symbols. What's the big deal? If God didn't want us to eat kangaroos, why did he make them so tasty? Many nationalities and cultures consume food the rest of the world considers disgusting or inappropriate. Norwegians tuck into reindeer at Christmas, the Japanese hunt whales, the French eat horse, snails and frogs legs, Koreans like dog, the Balinese eat dragonflies, Cambodians fry tarantula spiders, the English queue for jellied eels and the Chinese eat camel, cat, turtle, snake, monkey brains, scorpion, jellyfish, sea slugs... However distasteful it may be to the weedy beardie greenies, eating kangaroo may be the perfect solution to the problem of too many roos and not enough grass on our drought-stricken continent. The Defence Department has applied for a licence to cull about 3200 eastern greys in the ACT, saying Skippy is facing starvation because of prolonged drought. There's the additional problem of increased road kill as Skippy leaves his parched environment and hops over busy roads and into suburban backyards in search of a free feed. Defence proposes using professional shooters (not Australian Defence Force Academy recruits) to eliminate the enemy and to bury the carcasses in a giant pit on commonwealth land. What a giant waste. Don't they realise them's good eating? Rather than those scary People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (who think it's OK to injure people and cripple industry, but not animals) whipping up national and international outrage, we could turn the big cull into a big feast. All the dads could wheel their Webers and their two, four and six-burners to the lawns of Parliament House for a giant barberoo. The mums could bring the salad, and the grannies could collect the leftover kangaroo paws to turn into back scratchers for the grandads. And every kid gets a prize: a free roo skin for the rumpus room. But why should those toffs in the nation's capital have all the fun? Wacol, in Brisbane's southwest, and the Serendip Sanctuary in Lara, 60km from Melbourne, are over-rooed too. In Mudgee, in central NSW, hundreds of roos have invaded the sporting fields and airport. On the outskirts of Perth, hungry kangaroos are invading golf courses in search of a decent feed. They start on the fairways and then hover up the greens, leaving holes and poo behind. (Gives new meaning to a bogey, and don't take off your glove before retrieving your ball from the hole.) John Howard could declare a national barberoo day when families across the nation come together to throw culled Skippies on the barbie and celebrate the contribution our national symbol is making to the country's health. We could all gather around the barbie, beer in hand, and belt out a rousing rendition of the theme song from the television series. ``Skippy, Skippy, Skippy the bush kangaroo ... Skippy, Skippy, Skippy tastes best barbecued.'' On a snorkelling trip to Molokini crater off Maui in Hawaii, our boat chanced upon a competitive pod of five humpback whales, four males and a female. The males were competing for the affections of the female by engaging in a bout of whale wrestling. These giant males were ramming each other, slapping each other with their tails and breaching on top of each other as they jostled for pole position. They were having such a good biff, they didn't notice when the female swam off in the other direction, no doubt bored with their boorish behaviour. A Japanese honeymoon couple standing next to me on deck was equally amazed by this dramatic spectacle. ``Do they always fight like that?'' the bride asked. ``Yes, it's why male humpbacks taste better,'' I suggested. ``They've been tenderised.''*Australian Ed Comment; Weve only included this article above to demonstrate the attitudes of some of our journalists. ****************** A meeting between conservation groups and the Defence Department over the planned cull of thousands of kangaroos in Canberra's north has been called off. The Department has asked the ACT Government for a licence to allow professional shooters into the Belconnen Naval Transmission Station at Kaleen and Majura Training area. The Wildlife Carers Group's President Nora Preston said it seemed Defence was now holding off on the cull. "Well I'll push for them to withdraw their licences or if they're not going to withdraw the licences.. yes a stakeholders meeting and an inspection of the site and a count of the kangaroos," she said. "As far as I know they haven't withdrawn the licences yet but it does look like they're backing off in doing the cull." *ABC Below are some letters to the Canberra times Bravo to Rosslyn Beeby for her article (''Roo cull plan is just poor policy on the run'', May 14, p11) on the proposed kangaroo slaughter (time to end the mealy mouthed euphemism ''cull''). Add this slaughter to the continued loss of kangaroos every day on our roads, the continued brutal slaughter of kangaroos in areas surrounding the ACT (I can hear gunshots, see spotlights probing the darkness looking for the last few remaining animals, as I write this), and the losses due to the drought, and the kangaroo population on the Southern Tablelands must be under great threat. Is anyone monitoring the size and status of the population? Is anyone keeping track of the number of permits issued, and the actual numbers shot and killed, or left, wounded, to die? It seems to me almost inconceivable that the authorities on both sides of the border are hastening the process by licensing men with guns to kill these wonderful animals. ******** David Horton, Gundaroo John Coochey (Letters, May 17) accuses a scientist of anthropomorphism because he referred to the joy of watching young kangaroos cavorting around their mothers. That contemplative joy might be one of the qualities that are unique to human beings. But many of our other qualities are shared with other animal species including kangaroos. The closer these other species are to ourselves in evolutionary terms the more characteristics we clearly share. Nurturing and caring for young, particularly by their mother (the maternal instinct), is obvious in many species especially mammals but also in other species such as birds. Play is another characteristic that is not unique to humans. We need to understand that many other animal species such as kangaroos and those animals we exploit and kill for food are not that different from us and deserve to have their interests taken into account even if they can't express them. *Mike O'Shaughnessy, Spence ************* The controversy about culling kangaroo numbers seems to be missing a key element the impact on other species of overgrazing by large roo flocks. Over the last few days I have made birding trips to three ACT locations. At two of these, Mulligans Flat and Campbell Park, kangaroos were visible in large numbers. Birds, however, were few and far between especially the smaller species and the under-storey grass was almost absent. At the third site in a private property where no roos were visible and there was more grass, there was a range of species present, some of them (like superb wrens) in fair numbers. In the midst of the furore about kangaroos, therefore, it would worth asking whether these other species, some of them threatened, are worth protecting and whether or not culling kangaroos might not be a real blessing in this regard. Stephen Mugford, Ngunnawal * *************** Pat O'Brien and his kangaroo protection cabal may be wallowing in delusion in thinking that the proud record of the Australian Defence Force in Iraq has given our diggers a ''shaky'' reputation (''Explosives warning as cull protesters home in on range'', May 15, p1), but at least the animal liberation movement's zealotry has one thread of consistency. Just as they were happy to ban mulesing so sheep could be eaten alive by maggots, so their railing against the roo cull would imply that it is acceptable for these roos to starve to death. Animal libbers may find it easy to fool Hollywood stars and pop singers, but on this issue as with many others they've got a few roos loose in the top paddock. Simon Troeth, Holder ****************
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