Kangaroo and wallaby Newsletter archives7Website info on KING ISLAND 64km long by 27km wide King Island lies at the western entrance to Bass Strait. Its main commercial produce is beef, wool, dairy foods, crayfish & abalone. Area 110,000 hectares, Population 1775 persons History The rising sea level at the end of the last Ice Age 10-12000 years ago covered the lower parts of the land bridge that connected Tasmania and mainland Australia. King Island is a remnant of that land bridge. There are aboriginal midden sites from this period, mostly on the west coast. European history began with maritime explorers, sealers, hunters and shipwrecked castaways. Prospectors discovered tin, gold, rutile, ilmenite and one of the world's largest deposits of scheelite. Soldier settlement schemes after two world wars cleared the land for farmers who, in time, found that regular rainfall and year-long green pastures were ideal for growing (wool) sheep, beef and dairy cows. 1836 - Capt. Malcolm Laing Smith leased the island & established a home farm at Yellow Rock. 1878 - Woods, Draper and Giles took up a lease. First attempts at commercial agriculture and dairying. 1887 - Surveyor John Brown assessed the island for resources, timber and agricultural potential. Victorian Field Naturalists explored and recorded its natural history. 1892 - The English Timber Company established a base at Camp Creek. 2,000 acres of land had been selected. There were seven houses and 60 cattle. 1897 - First use of fertilizer and trace elements on King Island farmland. 1900 - Currie township site surveyed. First land sales. 1909 - Stock: 2134 cattle, 3312 sheep, 58 pigs. 1946 - Land Settlement Division of Agricultural Bank of Tasmania bought a total of 20,000 hectares of land to provide 200 farms. Soldiers and Citizens Club formed. 1955 - Stock: 10,000 dairy cattle, 8,000 beef cattle, 15,000 sheep, 1,500 pigs. 2001 - UHT (Ultra Heat Treated) milk factory built. FLORA and FAUNA King Island is extremely fertile with a mild maritime climate. Native flora and fauna abound due to the isolation of the island and lack of natural predators. King Island’s climate is one of moderate temperatures with a reliable rainfall that supports an outstanding agricultural industry. Situated in the Roaring 40’s gales, winds frequently reach over 100kms per hours. The coastline provides habitat to a variety of marine species. King Island has two Nature Reserves comprising 7,200 hectares and Riparian Reserves on some of the streams and larger lagoons. There is a Crown Reserve, approximately 30 metres wide from the high water mark that allows access to the coastline on King Island. The Lavinia State Reserve, in the northeast is the largest and covers an area of some 6400 hectares. It has two outstanding ocean beaches, Lavinia Beach and Nine Mile Beach. Within this reserve are two large fresh water lagoons abundant with rock fish, crayfish and abalone. Seal Rocks State Reserve in the southwest covers an area of approximately 800 hectares and contains the Island’s ancient Calcified Forest and spectacular cliffs at Seal Rocks. These animals are commonly spotted on roadsides, especially at dusk or evenings. The following native animals:- · Bennetts wallaby · Rufous wallaby · Tasmanian pademelon · Echidna · Brushtail Possum Platypus can be seen at dusk in many dams and streams. Other animals not as easy to encounter, include:- · Southern potoroo · Swamp Antechinus · Ringtail Possum · Eastern Pygmy Possum. Reptiles common to King Island are:- · Lemon-bellied tiger snake · Copperhead snake · White-lipped grass snake · Common blue tongued lizard and skinks. Freshwater fish, galaxia and pygmy perch and amphibians, green and gold bell frog, Eastern Banjo frog, striped marsh frog (unique to King Island and northwest Tasmania) and others are found in lakes, streams. Marine animals that sometimes visit King Island’s shores include:- · Australian fur seal · Southern elephant seal · Leopard seal · Southern right whale · Dolphin. A wide range of raptors, waterfowl, shorebirds and waders are seen on King Island. Black swans, ducks and other waterfowl are common throughout the island. Of the approximately 13 bird species confined to Tasmania, 10 are found on King Island. These include little penguins, short tailed shearwater (commonly known as muttonbirds), ruddy turnstone, the rare orange-bellied parrot, superb fairy wren, yellow wattle bird, dusky robin and flame robin. The orange-bellied parrot is of particular interest. On the brink of extinction, the parrot has been ranked as one of the rarest and most endangered species in the world. Its breeding area is confined to southwest Tasmania. Only 100-200 individuals still exist. After the breeding season, birds migrate up the west coast, on to King Island, and then to the mainland. They are easily spotted feeding on the coastal glasswort plains of the Sea Elephant area. East coast beaches are wonderful places for shells. The prized Nautilus shell is occasionally found. Extinct native animals, whose bones have been found on King Island include Diprotodon, Giant Kangaroo, Emu, King Island wombat and Eastern Quoll. Native vegetation King Island’s native vegetation has been greatly modified since European settlement. Approx. 70 per cent of the island has been cleared to provide grazing land. Introduced pasture species cover the majority of the island. There has been a significant increase in fire events. Agriculture in the form of dairying, beef and sheep is King Island's major industry. Native vegetation on the island now comprises only a relic of the magnificent forests of the past. In the north were once swamp forests of blackwood, paperbark and tea tree. An example can be found at the Nook Swamps and Saltwater Creek in the Lavinia Reserve. In the south there were once huge eucalypt and rainforests with giant trees and very dense undergrowth. Relics of these can be found in places such as Grassy River, Yarra Creek, Pegarah State forest and the Seal River. The native coast country consisted of varied scrub and heath type vegetation. Some of the coastal vegetation remains but is fragmented. Salt tolerant herb lands on the foreshore give way to wind pruned low heaths. Sandy coast and dunes occur both on the west and east coasts, with tussock grassland the most widespread species with heath, shrub and woodland on sheltered sites. Lavinia State Reserve contains examples of sedge-land and wet and dry heath. Native orchids, heath and tea-tree flower prolifically in the spring. Rocky coastal communities can be found in New Year Island Nature Reserve and Seal Rocks State Reserve. *End of web info. Flinders Island has similar characteristics. ******************************************** Trophy Hunting is alive and well on Flinders Island. A hunting website states; Of a morning we wait for the birds (Cape Barren Geese) to fly in from roosting areas on the islands to the pasture and crops where they cause the problems with eating grass and fouling water holes. Later in the day the geese are driven with four wheeled motor bikes and the hunters wait behind cover for the geese. Similar to driven pheasant. Of an evening geese are hunted on their way back to the roosting areas. The number of geese to be culled is set at the end of September the number varies each year normally about 3000 geese are culled to keep the population of geese a viable level the equates to about 12 geese per hunter each weekend.
The meat from the geese that are hunted will be boned out and packaged for the hunter to take home, recipes will be supplied for the cooking of your geese. Alternately the meat can be processed into salami's or kranski. This is made in Launceston there will be samples of these products for the hunters to try on the Island. Wallabies are one of the biggest problems faced by farmers on Flinders Island. The issue that the farmers face is whether to poison using 1080, to shoot wallabies or just ignore the problem and ruin their pasture. We offer the chance to hunt wallabies on 8000 acres of farmland that is surrounded by bushland. On a typical night we can shoot up to 300 wallabies, alternately you can still hunt wallabies of a day time this can test the skill of the hunter while helping the farmers control the wallaby population. We have two types of wallabies on the Island Bennets Wallaby (locally called roo's ) and Rufous Wallaby (locally called pademelons).
Both of these wallabies offer excellent wallaby steaks, mince and small wallaby baked whole are a local treat. *End. Website statements from http://focusonflinders.com.au/ The "sportsmen" appear to come over from Victoria. * ******************************************** I don’t know about anyone else, but I wouldn’t buy, visit, support or in any way encourage anyone else to visit these Islands. In fact a National boycott would not seem to me to be out of place. We certainly should all be writing to the Tasmanian Environment Minister about the trophy hunting of Cape Barren geese and pademelons. Flinders Island Council email addy is below. flinderscouncil@trump.net.au mailto:flinderscouncil@trump.net.au From the bottom of this webpage you can send a message to the local Industry and Development Board. http://www.flindersislandonline.com.au/ From this page below you can send a message to King Island Council And other King Island groups http://www.kingisland.net.au/community.htm Please take the time to send them a brief (but not rude) message about the appalling mismanagment and abuse of wildlife on these Islands. Tell them why you will not buy their products. If even only a few people send them an email, we can make them aware that good humane management of wildlife on the Islands can benefit them financially, rather than bring them bad publicity, and financial losses. The address for the Tasmanian Environment Minister is below. JUDY JACKSON , MHA Electorate: Denison http://www.electoral.tas.gov.au/pages/houseofassembly/electorateinfo.htm Phone: (03) 6233 4180 Fax: (03)6233 267 1 mailto:judy.jackson@parliament.tas.gov.au ******************************************** 25/5/05 Wallabies Poisoned One of the largest co-ordinated 1080 poisonings on King Island had the potential to kill up to 200,000 wallabies. Sixteen King Island properties participated in the baiting completed last week, in which a 115km line of poisoned carrots was laid. It is understood 1.2kg of 1080 was used on the island, with farmers under increasing pressure from wallaby populations thought to be as high as 500,000. Veterinary pathologist David Obendorf said in theory, the amount of 1080 used could have delivered a fatal dose to between 100,000 and 200,000 wallabies. Dr Obendorf said the final kill rate depended on a range of factors, including competition for the bait from other animals, and was a theoretical estimate only. The co-ordinator of the large-scale poisoning, farmer Jim Cooper, said he doubted the kill rate was as high as Dr Obendorf's estimate, but accepted it was likely to have been in the tens of thousands. He said it was difficult to know how many wallabies had died as carcass retrieval could be as low as 10 per cent of the total number killed. Mr Cooper said the farmers did not want to have to use 1080 to control browsing damage and he criticised continuing Government delays in getting a wallaby management plan for the island so the animals could be turned into an exportable resource. The Federal Government demands an approved management plan be in place before wallaby products can be exported, but has been at odds with the State Government over firearm calibres and population-estimating techniques. Mr Cooper said farmers would much rather see the wallabies used as meat instead of being poisoned. "If that was the last time we had to use 1080, we'd all throw our hands in the air and rejoice," he said. But until a commercially viable alternative was approved, property owners had little option but to lay 1080. "At the end of the day it's about our livelihood, and we just couldn't put off poisoning any longer," he said. The 16 properties were all approved under guidelines administered by the Primary Industries, Water and Environment Department, and it is understood several other applications to join the poisoning were rejected. Mr Cooper said farmers on the island have spent tens of thousands of dollars to do the poisoning. "I think most farmers would be happy to pay [a commercial shooter] a couple of dollars for every wallaby he took," he said. About 250 wallabies were shot and taken interstate last week for a commercial trial, but there are no indications when a management plan will be approved. *Mercury Ed. Comment; Most people who read this will be very, very angry. They have killed thousands of wallabies in a very painful manner. Only 10 percent of the dead animals will be collected, the rest will then be scavenged on by raptors and other carnivores. Inpouch and expouch joeys will die of starvation and exposure. As well, 250 wallabies have been shot and sent interstate, presumably to test the markets for the sale of wallaby fur and flesh. We know that China is looking for fur for garments after the Federal government stopped the import of dog and cat fur trimming on clothings. All these ratbag farmers had to do was fence off their paddocks with wallaby mesh, and the populations, if indeed it is as high as they claim, would level off. Wildlife control their own populations, depending on the availability of food and water, if allowed to. These "farmers" have destroyed their farms with unsustainable agricultural practices, and now they want to kill and sell off our wallabies. We live in a very sick world, and it’s always the animals who have to pay the ultimate price for human greed and stupidity, and political incompetence and collusion. * ******************************************** One of our associates in Tasmania rang Jim Cooper (quoted in the Story above) on King Island to find out some farming facts. He said: King Island is a high rainfall, grass growing area ideal for fattening cattle. Approx. 90,000 beef cattle are farmed mainly to export beef to Japan + USA (there’s an abbattoir on King Island.) Sheep are raised for wool but the decline in wool prices has seen the flocks reduced by about 70% in the past few years. But Cooper and a few others raise sheep with superfine wool for export to the luxury fashion trade and they are still getting good prices. (Are these kept in sheds like chooks?) Jim Cooper estimated that that King Island’s total wallaby population is between 200-300,000 (not 500,000 as in the Mercury.) Veterinary pathologist David Obendorf (Mercury) says the amount of 1080 used could deliver a fatal dose to between 100,000 and 200,000 wallabies. Jim Cooper said that on the 16 farms that used the baits there are approx. 20,000 cattle and 20,000 sheep. If you kill 200,000 wallabies to farm 40,000 cattle + sheep = 5 poisoned wallabies per one cow or sheep. All to provide beef and wool to Japan + USA She said she forgot to ask Jim Cooper one important question. Dr Obendorf estimates carcass retrieval could be as low as 10 per cent of the total number of wallabies killed “so it was difficult to know how many wallabies had died.” What happens to 90% of wallaby carcasses? Are eaten by other animals and/or birds? Do they get into the waterways and the ocean, to be consumed by marine life? Does anyone know, does anyone care about what happens to approx. 90,000-180,000 carcasses of native wallabies regularly poisoned on King Island? *. ******************************************** Today (Wed) I did some media on this matter, (above) and said we, (the NKPC) had asked all our readers and supporters to boycott any shops or supermarkets that sell King Island product. While most of their beef is exported, reject cuts are sold regularly around Australia. I’ve also written to Tasmanian Premier Lennon. Probably a waste of time. ******************************************** Pademelon Kill Research Tasmanian Forestry have applied for permission to do the following research. I got in on the last day for comments and suggested they refuse the research permit, and start looking at non-lethal solutions. The following animal welfare issues need to be addressed before trapping pademelons can be used for crop protection purposes: 1. Demonstrate the humaneness of the traps and process of trapping pademelons by: · conducting trapped-animal behavioral studies, · recording any injuries of captured pademelons (as well as any non-targets that are captured), · conducting any available biochemistry assays to measure stress of captured pademelons, and · demonstrating that the process of killing the pademelons after capture is humane. 2. Show that trapping and killing pademelons reduces browsing damage. Trapping will be undertaken as per normal trapping and shooting operations aimed at reducing browsing damage. Animals will be dealt with in accordance with the Code of Practice for capture, handling, transport and slaughter of brush-tail possums and the Code of Practice for the humane shooting of kangaroos. ******************************************** 1080 The long awaited Review of 1080 has just handed down its recommendations. It’s a whitewash of course, as we thought it would be. Its hasn’t considered animal welfare aspects at all. It certainly wont stop criticisms of the use of 1080.It can be read at http://www.apvma.gov.au/chemrev/1080.shtml ******************************************** Kangas and Whales EATING whale meat in Japan is like Australians eating kangaroo, one of Japan's senior whaling delegates said yesterday. International Whaling Commission delegate Joji Morishita said Japanese people felt very strongly about eating whale meat and were "eager" for the chance to eat it again. "Some people outside Australia might feel that eating kangaroos might be barbaric," he said. "Some people outside [Australia] might say stop eating it, but some people in your country might feel strongly about eating kangaroo. You wouldn't like it if . . . another country told you to stop eating kangaroo." Japan's history of eating whale meat stretched back thousands of years, he said. Humane Society International spokeswoman Nicola Beynon said the difference between eating kangaroos and whales was that there was no ban on hunting kangaroos for commercial use. "The world has agreed that whales shouldn't be hunted because you can't do it humanely and you can't do it sustainably," she said. "There is an international moratorium in place which Japan is subverting." Mr Morishita, also deputy director of the Far Seas Fisheries Division of Japan's Fisheries Agency, said Japan had an "obligation" to eat whales they caught as part of scientific research. "The constitution which establishes the research is clear that we shouldn't waste the body of sampled whales," he said. "It's talking about how to handle the process and that provision is saying that we should utilise the proceeds." Japan has recently finished an 18-year "scientific research" program in Antarctica which appears to have been based around proving that whale numbers have increased enough to lift the moratorium on commercial whaling. "We are not endangering any species through our research, it should be sustainable," Mr Morishita. "We're not exploiting or eating an endangered species . . . we're saying we'd like to utilise the species on a sustainable basis. "That should not differ from eating any sustainable, land-based species." Mr Morishita said Japan didn't expect to lift the whaling moratorium at this year's IWC meeting, describing the chances of gaining the two-thirds majority as "50-50". Most groups have slammed the Australian government over its feeble attempts to stop the whaling through “diplomatic means”. ******************************************** Kangaroo Code of Practice.
The national Code of Practice for the Humane Shooting of Kangaroos was introduced in 1985, and reviewed in 1990. After recommendations from a 2002 report by RSPCA Australia, entitled kangaroo Shooting Code Compliance - A survey of the extent of compliance with the requirements of the Code of Practice for the Humane Shooting of Kangaroos the Natural Resources Management Ministerial Council ordered a further review. A working group was appointed, including industry, Government, RSPCA Australia and Animals Australia. Kangaroo shooters in the commercial industry are required to comply with the Code as a condition of their licences issued under State Kangaroo management Programs in Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales and Queensland. However, compliance is virtually impossible to measure and enforce - particularly as shooting occurs in remote areas at night. The issues debated during this review include the welfare of joeys, wallaby shooting (mainly in Tasmania), the use of shotguns, as well as non-commercial shooting. It is also proposed that there be a name change to drop the word ‘humane’ (as it is seen by many to be unachievable), and also appropriate expert ballistics input to ensure the capabilities of firearms and ammunition. Public comments on a 2004 Discussion Paper are being used to produce a ‘draft’ Code which will be released for further consultation in mid-2005. The whole process seems to be bogged down, and the review may never find it’s feet. We have suggested to the Review that the COP should be renamed a “Shooters Guide to Killing Kangaroos” because that’s all it is. Animals Australia has written to both Victorian Ministers in regard to the Big Brother television series we mentioned last Kangamail. * ********************************************
Kangamail 19/5/05
We haven’t sent out a Kangamail for a little while because there has been very little good news for kangaroos. This week has been particularly arduous. First we had an attack by the virus loonys, with up to a dozen malicious viruses deliberately sent every day. Then we got caught up the tail spin from the new P virus, and started receiving hundreds of emails in German. Luckily we are pretty well protected from viruses and malicious activities, or so we thought! But then some one hacked into the Kangaroo Protection Coalition website and disabled it. I’m still not sure whether we have managed to fix that, if we haven't, well we will soon. Then to top it all off I came down with the dreaded lurgy. Anyway, life goes on, but not for all the kangaroos. ******************************************** Wildlife Carers I often get emails and phone calls from people wanting to become involved in wildlife caring. I always refer them to a local wildlife carer group so they can get good local information and expert assistance. Now Greypath have put an Introductory Course in Wildlife Care on their website. Many seniors would like to become involved in helping wildlife at a local level, and this introduction, which will be upgraded and improved apon, will be a very handy explanation of what wildlife caring is all about. Have a look, its not finished yet, but it’s a very good introduction for those interested in becoming a wildlife carer. Of course its still important that they become involved with a group or network. http://www.greypath.com/courses/wildlife/wildfiles/Introduction1.htm ******************************************** Book Launches There are two kangaroo book launches this year. Our WPAA book, "Kangaroos, our Gentle Aussie Icons", will be launched at Australia Zoo on the 13th June. AWPC's kangaroo book "Kangaroos, Myths and Realities" will be launched at Parliament House Sydney on August 22nd. Anyone wishing to attend the launches please contact the relevant organisation for details. ******************************************** Big Brother There have been many complaints about what some people called a horrific segment on Big Brother this week One of our members writes; “I too saw this on Big Brother! I never watch the rubbishy program but was woken up at about 11.45pm. I turned on the T.V. As I couldn’t get back to sleep and heard them mention Kangaroos in their chatting. Really it was very distressing as he explicitly explained how he once hit a kangaroo in his car and went back to kill it with a baseball bat. He was laughing as he told how the kangaroo was huge and was trying to stand up on its broken legs and went on to laugh explaining the noise it was making. Then he said he bashed it across the head with the bat. This conversation went on for at least 10 minutes. I will be doing my best to get in touch with the producers or someone involved. He said he often goes out shooting an loves killing Roos. It was really shocking. I haven’t stopped thinking about it today.” Well the good news is that the Victorian Premiers office is not happy about it either! They have said; “I would like to confirm that we received your email and it has been forwarded to our Correspondence Office. I made an enquiry and thought you could also refer the matter to the Australian Broadcasting Authority 1800 22 6667. Good luck, I realise this is an important issue. Thanks”. For those who would like to take a support action, the Ministers email is john.thwaites@parliament.vic.gov.au mailto:john.thwaites@parliament.vic.gov.au Please send an email about this to him, expressing your concern, and also please contact the ABC at the number above. ******************************************** Manipulating the Science and Research. Science and Research have no morality. How can they have? Science conflicts and distorts. It can by used and manipulated. It can reach any desired conclusion, depending on the data collected, and the morality of those who apply it. It can also be manipulated for financial gain. When it comes to the kangaroo kill, some of those practicing science have been accused of being part of a cabal of opportunistic scientific Mafia, prostituting their education and scientific skills in the pursuit of funding at any cost. Professor Gordon Grigg, accused by many of being the Godfather of the Academic Mafia, has for many years been pursuing his sheep replacement therapy. This theory supposes and promotes the idea that sheep can be replaced by kangaroos in the rangelands. The theory behind this assumption fails to consider, or ignores, where our billion dollar wool clip will come from. This fanciful theory also does not take into consideration that our overseas meat markets demand mutton, not kangaroo meat. Nor does this theory recognise that perhaps we shouldn’t be trying to farm in some of those areas anyway. Kangaroos become the scapegoats when overgrazing, and drought after drought, year after year, turned the land to dust. Kangaroos are now fugitives in their own land, where before European settlement they have lived in harmony with their environment for millions of years. That other icon of vested interest the CSIRO, also becomes involved in the pursuit of funding at any cost to our wildlife. The CSIRO is partly funded by Industry. The Kangaroo Industry Association of Australia (KIAA) is a member of the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC), another unaccountable Federal government quango that has a long history of encouraging and financing Industry development at any cost. During the push by sand miners Pivot Mines in the early 1990’s to access the Shoalwater Bay Military Training Area, the RIRDC actually manipulated data to show that the fishing Industry did not have any significant economic benefit from that area, when in fact the opposite was the case. RIRDC also has recently produced another dodgy research paper that claims that trophy hunting would bring financial benefits to farmers and indigenous peoples. The document also claimed governments could use funds generated by trophy hunting to achieve conservation goals, but fails to say how, and that “public opposition to trophy hunting may have been influenced by anecdotal reports that some in the Industry operated unethically!” In fact the research they did, if they did any, was manipulated to show a desired result. This happens far more often than most people realise. The RIRDC provides funding to the CSIRO for their Rural and Development programs. One CSIRO scientist, South African Dr Fraudenberger, is very outspoken and actively promotes the culling of kangaroos. Does Dr Fraudenberger represent the CSIRO or the KIAA or both? Fraudenberger has represented the CSIRO at various forums such as the ACT Kangaroo Management Committee and in the Senate on the same subject. He attempted to gain a seat on the NSW kangaroo Management Advisory Committee in the 90’s, but was rejected as being biased. Can Fraudenberger be an 'independent' expert on behalf of the CSIRO? One must ask what type of deals are struck between the CSIRO, the KIAA and the RIRDC that are likely to influence the way the CSIRO approaches these issues? In an article written by Fraudenberger in the Issues Magazine, he claimed there was no difference between a kangaroo and a grain of wheat. It should concern all of us that the CSIRO presents to the public as an independent body, and is invited to participate in various forums on that basis. However, due to obvious self interests - it would appear that there is not sufficient independence in their representatives, nor is there anyone to protect the interests of our wildlife in the Parliament. Where is the morality here? It appears that almost any scientist who is paid by these vested interest quangos will produce any material that can justify the continued killing of kangaroos. In the 2001 AAT Appeal against the 2001 NSW Kangaroo Management Plan, Environment Australia funded the appearance of two genetic scientists to give evidence that decades of shooting the largest kangaroos would have no effect on the genetic strength of the kangaroo populations. They gave a bewildering display of graphs, power point presentations, and discourses that managed to convince the Appeal members that there was no evidence that loss of genetic strength was caused by the kangaroo kill. The National Kangaroo Protection Coalition, who instigated the Appeal, could not compete with this flood of pseudo-scientific argument, the Appeal was lost, and our kangaroos continue to be brutalised and killed. However as most Australians, including farmers and schoolchildren know, sustained and continued killing of the largest of any species, bypasses the natural selection process, and often spells doom for that species. We humans have done that before, many times, with many species worldwide. Here was another case of science being manipulated to show a pre-conceived result. Then there is the counting of kangaroos. Every year the methodology of population counting is changed, as are most of the staff doing the counting. An aeroplane flies in straight line over a stretch of Australia, and the kangaroos visible from the aircraft are counted. Variable and changeable correction factors are added to estimate the number of kangaroos likely to there in that area, but not sighted from the aircraft. The figures are the fed into a computer to a complicated modeling system that then attempts to tell us how many kangaroos we have left. The counting system has been criticised for decades by wildlife groups, but how the actual modeling works, is privileged information and not available to groups to independently assess. They also count the kangaroos in National Parks to boost the figures. Currently in charge of the counting is wildlife ecologist Dr Tony Pople, a former student of Prof. Gordon Grigg. Both are based at the Queensland University. Dr Pople was recently flown to California to give evidence to a Senate Committee who were hearing evidence into a proposed Senate Bill to change the Legislation to allow the sale of wildlife body parts in California. Who paid for Pople to go to the US and defend the commercial kangaroo kill? The Industry? Not likely! And did we pay again? Almost certainly! *
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