Kangaroo, Kangamail Archives 32!

At a meeting held in Canberra last week between the RSPCA, Defence and wildlife groups, Defence said they would feed the kangaroos if nescessary until a non-lethal option was found. Defence also agreed to take "stakeholders" at the meeting into both Belconnen and Majura sites for an inspection. Another meeting is planned in a couple of weeks time, but it looks like the kanagroos are safe. *

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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 Australia and oversseas, on radio, TV, and printed media.*

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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!*

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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 year’s 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

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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

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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

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`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 calibre of some of our journalists.

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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.

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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

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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 *

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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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The Defence Department says feeding is being considered as a way of avoiding the culling of kangaroos on two of its ACT properties.

Defence had considered culling roos at Majura and Kaleen because of fears they might starve in the drought.

But a plan to use professional shooters has been rejected by police because of safety concerns.

Defence spokesman Larry Robbins said feeding the roos was a possibility.

"A cull is effectively the last resort so we need to satisfay ourselves that all options have been looked at, seriously addressed," he said.

"If culling is the only way forward then that's the option that defence may need to take.

"If a cull was to proceed we would need to euthanase as opposed to shooting.

"The option at Majura has never been one of certainty around whether a cull is absolutely necessary and we're looking at options there at the moment." ABC 30/5/07

San Francisco — As the California Legislature considers Senate Bill 880—which would overturn the state’s decades-old law prohibiting the sale and importation of kangaroo meat and skins—athletic-wear maker Adidas will be under scrutiny for its alleged violation of the ban before the state Supreme Court on Tuesday. In 2003, Adidas was sued by international animal protection group Viva! for selling a model of soccer shoes with kangaroo-skin cleats in California. Even though Adidas sells a version of the same shoe featuring synthetic cleats—the version preferred by soccer great David Beckham—a company representative spoke during a committee hearing in favor of lifting the ban:

Date: Tuesday, May 29 Time: 9 a.m. Place: Supreme Court of California, 350 McAllister St., San Francisco

The slaughter of kangaroos is a cruel spectacle. Every year, millions of kangaroos are shot for their skins. Babies, who hold no economic value, are often yanked from their mothers’ pouches and beaten to death. The ban was passed in order to protect certain "look-alike" kangaroo species so that Californians would not unwittingly contribute to the extinction of a species, but kangaroo hunters are not always able to distinguish between animals who can be killed and those who are protected. According to Australian government statistics, kangaroo populations continue to dwindle and are now well below half what they were in 2001. The legalization of kangaroo skin sales in California would place additional downward pressure on kangaroo populations. As a major player in the professional soccer cleats market, Adidas is a driving force behind the slaughter.

"No one knows better than Adidas that there are humane options to slaughtering kangaroos for their skins—the company already sells kangaroo-skin-free shoes," says PETA Vice President Bruce Friedrich. "The way that Adidas has flouted the ban and lobbied for its overturn is shameful. This shoe company is clearly out of step with California’s proud tradition of strong animal protection laws."

For more information, please visit PETA.org.

The California Supreme Court at a hearing in San Francisco today grappled with the question of whether the state has the right to ban the use of Australian kangaroo leather in soccer cleats.

The high court heard arguments in a lawsuit filed by an animal rights group called Viva! International Voice for Animals against the maker of Adidas athletic shoes.

The group claims that sales of Adidas soccer cleats made with skins from three species of Australian kangaroos violate a 1970 California law banning products from any of 23 protected animals including kangaroos.

But Martin Fineman, a lawyer for Adidas Promotional Retail Operations Inc., argued that the state law interferes with a federal policy to work with the Australian government to conserve the kangaroos.

Fineman told the court, "The state statute in a very significant way impairs the accomplishment of federal goals."

The attorney said, "The federal government has the right to decide that a velvet glove approach rather than an iron fist is the best approach."

The red, eastern gray and western gray kangaroos were listed as threatened species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from 1974 to 1995, but were taken off the list after the federal agency concluded the Australian government had developed an effective conservation program.

Orly Deganni, a lawyer for the animal rights groups, argued there was no conflict in the laws because the federal government gave up any interest in the kangaroos when it took the animals off the endangered species list.

She told the court, "They no longer have a policy with respect to these kangaroo species."

The court's seven justices took the case under submission after hearing an hour of arguments and will have 90 days to issue a ruling.

Viva, a British group with an office in Davis, appealed to the state Supreme Court after a San Francisco Superior Court judge and a state appeals court ruled that the lawsuit should be dismissed. *Bay City News US 30/5/07

THE decision to slaughter kangaroos at the Serendip Wildlife Park is illogical and cruel. It means the violent and horrific death of animals that have survived the longest drought on record. The rationale that we need to kill healthy kangaroos in case they may suffer in the future _ when we can be sure that these kangaroos will suffer unimaginable suffering when killed in this cull _ is senseless.

Kangaroo culling is a horrific process whereby kangaroos are confronted in the night by shooters with blinding lights, followed by the sights of close family members being shot to the ground. Joeys of the dead females are wrenched from their pouch and bashed to death, and countless ex-pouch joeys become orphaned, and die a slow death from starvation and exposure, unable to survive without their mother. Locals have already reported seeing orphaned joeys in the area victims of the latest cull at the sanctuary. To carry out this barbaric act in wildlife sanctuaries is devastating, especially when these are moderately healthy kangaroos that have already proven their resilience against the driest years on record.

Why can't we show our compassion and commitment to these ancient and unique animals? Proper wildlife corridors could be established from the sanctuary so that kangaroos can range between the park and the You Yangs. If roadside accidents are a concern, effective strategies can be employed such as clearing roadside foliage to increase visibility, reducing road speeds and the installation of hi-tech infra-red roadside detection systems to alert drivers of approaching animals.

If future starvation is a concern, they can be monitored and decisions made when it occurs on an individual basis. The healthy kangaroos in this population deserve to live and care for their babies in one of the few places left in Australia that kangaroos can't find sanctuary.

Nikki Sutterby is president Australian Society for Kangaroos. *Geelong Advertiser 31.5/07 The fate of Tyson, the Australian kangaroo held in deplorable conditions at a London roadside zoo, and plans to apply pressure to the Ontario Government to pass legislation to protect exotic animals, were the main topics of discussion at a public meeting held last night (May 30) at the Civic Garden Complex on Springbank Drive.

As a result of the meeting, a local protest, possibly at the site of Lickety Split Ranch and Zoo, 1292 Scotland Dr., where the kangaroo was last seen in captivity, and a bus trip to Queens Park to demonstrate on the steps of the Ontario Legislature, were two recommendations made during the emotionally charged discussion.

Two London women, Vicki VanLinden and Melody Evans, spearheaded the meeting and have pledged to raise money to, if possible, purchase Tyson so they can send him to a "retirement" location in the southern U.S., where he can live the remainder of his life in relative freedom.

"We will find the money to buy the kangaroo and we want to provide Tyson with a happy retirement in the southern U.S.," said VanLinden.

But Tyson's whereabouts is unknown, and some fear he may not even be alive to rescue.

"Kangaroo meat is very popular in Canada," noted one woman in attendance, adding the effort to save Tyson may be all for nothing.

However, Bill 154, which would provide regulations to protect exotic species in Ontario and possibly save numerous other animals in the province suffering similar deplorable conditions as Tyson, has stalled at second reading and a sense of urgency to get this Bill passed is increasing.

Bill 154 was first tabled by Liberal MPP David Zimmerman in October of last year, but it has failed to move beyond the second reading since that time.

VanLinden said pressure on the McGuinty Government must be applied to get this Bill passed before the end of this legislature session June 28. If the Bill isn't passed, the issue could have to start all over once the October election takes place.

Melissa Tkachyk, a programs officer with the World Society for the Protection of Animals, said there are 45 zoos in Ontario, and while not all of them need to be shut down, the exhibits at many roadside zoos fall far short of acceptable care for the animals they hold captive.

"Ontario really is the wild west for the zoo industry, and its no wonder the substandard facilities set up shop here," she said.

In 2005 the WSPA enlisted the aid of Dr. Ken Gold, a world-renowned zoo expert, to conduct an audit of 16 Ontario zoos. Among them was the Lickety Split zoo and the Tyson exhibit was given a failing grade of zero because of the horrific conditions to which the animal was subjected.

She said 83 per cent of the exhibits inspected by Gold at all 16 zoos failed to meet even the basic essential animal welfare and safety requirements.

Hugh Coghill, Acting Chief Inspector with the Ontario SPCA, said that agency has been lobbying the government for more than 30 years to introduce legislation giving teeth to laws to protect animals such as those in road side zoos.

"Welcome to the province where it's illegal to import a pit bull but if you want a tiger you can probably arrange that in a day or two," he said.

While most zoos in the province welcome the SPCA on site, the owner at Lickety Split, Shirley McElroy, presented the agency with a trespass notice a number of years ago, Coghill said.

"The SPCA are not allowed on the property without a search warrant. The last time we tried was in August of last year," he said. Ultimately the search warrant application was denied because the presiding Justice deemed the information to be too old (more than two weeks).

Coghill said almost every other province in Canada has legislation that makes it an offence to cause or permit animals to be in distress.

"It's a sad, sad reflection on the province that we are a distant runner behind the rest of Canada when it comes to animal welfare legislation," he said, urging everyone to write letters to Premier Dalton McGuinty, copying their MPPs, demanding the swift passing of Bill 154.

"There are more roadside zoos in Ontario then the rest of Canada combined. The people that operate these kinds of low-class establishments know there is not a lot we can do – no regulations," Coghill said.

Tkachyk said there is no reason for the provincial government not to pass Bill 154.

"Matters of animal welfare are not a top priority for the government. It matters to the people we just need to get it to matter to government," she said.

Recently, the Lickety Split zoo and Tyson the kangaroo made international headlines when the Australian Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull asked for an investigation of the situation.

Since then the zoo locked its gates and informed Tourism London it would not be opening for the May long weekend. The zoo has since been removed from the Tourism London website. * LondonTopic.ca

DAVID Beckham's new US soccer team is behind a bid to legalise the import and sale of kangaroo skins so players can wear shoes made from their leather.

After years of lobbying by sportswear giant adidas, the California Senate voted this week to end LA's 37-year import ban on kangaroo products.

The Senate Kangaroo Bill has pitted the Los Angeles Galaxy and CD Chivas USA soccer teams against animal rights activists.

The Bill passed in the Senate - after four years of failed efforts - would allow a kangaroo product to be imported and sold in California if the species was not otherwise protected by laws in the US and abroad.

The Bill must still be approved by the Assembly and signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to be allowed.

Of the 55 species of kangaroos in Australia, six are commercially harvested and exported, including red and western grey kangaroos.

Animal activists are fighting the proposal, which they say will lead to the deaths of endangered kangaroos because hunting is done at night and the species are difficult to differentiate.

They also object to the rules of kangaroo hunting, which dictate that if a mother is killed the baby must be killed as well.

Lauren Ornelas, spokeswoman for animal rights organisation Viva USA, said adidas was relentless in pushing to get the Bill through.

"Kangaroos are wildlife, not shoes," she said. "Adidas needs to get in step with the times and use synthetic materials for all their shoes."

Federal Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull told the Senate that the change in California law would not lead to the deaths of any endangered kangaroo species and that different species were "readily distinguishable".

Since 2003, the first year the Bill was introduced, adidas America has spent about $A530,000 lobbying the Legislature, state filings show.

The company is also fighting a legal challenge from Viva USA that alleges it is violating California's law by using kangaroo skins in its high-end cleats, including the adidas Predator.

The company denies the charge and has won initial court rulings, with an appeal pending before the California Supreme Court.

Ms Ornelas said she was optimistic the Supreme Court would rule in favour of California's legally-stated desire to protect kangaroo from slaughter.

"Adidas has been getting away with murder in Australia and California," she said.

"They have been showing the same disregard for California law that the hunters show the baby kangaroos whom they bludgeon to death."

Adidas said in a statement that it was confident California's highest court would rule that the state's endangered species law was unenforceable because it conflicted with federal law.

The company would not answer questions about the bill pending in the state capital of Sacramento.

The measure passed the Senate 27-8, with five senators not voting.

Soccer players want kangaroo leather for its light weight and both of Los Angeles' professional teams and California's amateur leagues have expressed support for the bill.

LA Galaxy president Alexi Lalas said California's law has put his team at a competitive disadvantage with the rest of Major League Soccer.

"Because my team represents California in a highly competitive sport, I believe that the full array of soccer products should be locally accessible to and be available for purchase by our players here in California," he said.

"It is unfair to have these products freely available for commercial purchase in all of the other 49 states and not here."

David Beckham, who will join LA Galaxy in two months after finishing at Real Madrid, last year announced he would no longer use the adidas kangaroo skin soccer shoe the Predator.

He has since been wearing the adidas Predator made of synthetic materials. *AAP

Laauren; didn't do an interview with them nor did i comment to ANYONE on being optimistic on the California Supreme Court decision (or the case at all). They used quotes from old news releases and interviews. Very, very odd...

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A RARE ALBINO WALLABY HAS BEEN SPOTED NEAR Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire,UK. Experts have estimated that the odds of an albino wallaby being born are100,000-1, according to the Daily Mail Newspaper. The wallaby was snapped - and duly uploaded to photo sharing and YouTube sites online - by Stacey Purdey, a 28-year-old who recognized the wallaby as she had recently been to Australia, and remembered them from zoos there. "There are quite a few wallabies living in the wild in England, having escaped or been released from various places over the years," said a spokeswoman from nearby Woburn Safari Park. "But it would be incredible if this albino wallaby has been born in the wild and it will be much more difficult for it to survive."*Network Item

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We are hearing that the W.A Department of Environment and Conservation has apparently turned off a number of water holes frequented by kangaroos (and other species). Accordig to one source, kangaroos are just dropping like flies from no water and the living kangaroos are starting to eat the dead kangaroos just trying to survive.

It's no surprise to us that the WA government would sink to such depths. Government bodies can get away with all sorts of blatant cruelty. We understand that some people are rescuing joeys, but carers are being overrun with them and don't know what to do. No-one in authority will help, (ie DEC, RSPCA) their only advice was to destroy the joeys as they say, there is no one to take them.

The water situation may have been an artificial one created by humans, but to just turn off the water and walk away is appauling. Then there is the issue of water sources that may have been available before white settlement, that have since been destroyed to provide pasture and grazing. When it conmes to kangaroos and governments, anything goes! ****************

SOCCER glamour boy David Beckham and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger have become central figures in an Australian kangaroo cruelty campaign in the US. At stake is a potential market worth tens of millions of dollars for the Australian kangaroo export industry and the right for Californian sports stars to wear shoes made from soft, lightweight kangaroo skin.

It is illegal to import kangaroo skins and meat to California, but Mr Schwarzenegger is likely to rule in September whether to keep the ban. California is the only US state to have the ban. The prospect of Mr Schwarzenegger legalising the importation of kangaroo has angered US animal rights activists, who have responded by launching a state-wide campaign.

"People are opposed to kangaroo slaughter and are opposed to wearing kangaroo skin on their feet," People for Ethical Treatment of Animals campaign co-ordinator Melissa Karpel said. Beckham, the former English captain and the face of the Adidas soccer shoe line, finds himself in a precarious position just weeks before joining his new American club Los Angeles Galaxy.

Last year he announced he would wear a synthetic version of Adidas Predator soccer boots, instead of styles made from kangaroo skin. Beckham, whose former Spice Girl wife Victoria is a devout vegetarian, made the decision after viewing graphic videos of the culling of kangaroos in Australia, including a joey being cut out of its mother's pouch and battered with a blunt instrument.

It has been Adidas, which has spent more than $526,000 lobbying the California legislature, and the LA Galaxy which have led the fight to have the ban overturned. The LA Galaxy argues its players are at a disadvantage as other clubs outside California playing in America's Major League Soccer competition can wear kangaroo leather shoes, which are light and soft.

On Tuesday, after four years of failed bids, Adidas and the LA Galaxy were successful when the Senate passed a Bill which would allow kangaroo products to be imported and sold in California if the species was not protected by laws in the US and abroad. * Daily Telegraph