16 May 2017

Activists vow to continue their fight as Canberra’s kangaroo cull starts tomorrow

| Glynis Quinlan
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An Eastern Grey Kangaroo stands in Australian bushland at Tinbinbilla Nature Reserve

Animal activists have vowed to keep waging their ‘David and Goliath’ fight against the ACT Government which will tomorrow begin culling 2,606 eastern grey kangaroos.

Despite being unable to stop years of kangaroo culling in the ACT, activists say they will “keep chipping away” on the issue and believe they are gaining a little more traction in the community.

However, their concerns about the ethics of kangaroo culling will again fall on deaf ears as the annual cull starts tomorrow in 12 nature reserves in the ACT and adjacent areas.

The targeted area will be more widespread than in previous years, with more than half the cull quota to apply to kangaroos in the ACT-managed Googong Foreshores area across the NSW border.

ACT Director of Parks and Conservation, Daniel Iglesias, said the cull of 2,606 kangaroos is necessary in order to “protect biodiversity and maintain populations at appropriate levels to minimise impacts on other flora and fauna in critical grassland and woodland sites”.

Mr Iglesias said that up to 1406 eastern grey kangaroos will be culled in the Googong Foreshores which contains a number of threatened ecological communities and plant and animal species.

“It forms part of a corridor of relatively intact vegetation extending from the Tinderry Range to the north-eastern ACT,” Mr Iglesias said.

Reserves to close from mid to late afternoon

Starting from tomorrow (May 17), 12 nature reserves will close to the public from mid to late afternoon until early morning to enable the cull to take place. They will re-open to the public on Saturday, July 29 or earlier if the cull is completed sooner.

The six reserves to be closed between 3 pm and 7 am each day are Callum Brae Nature Reserve, West Jerrabomberra Nature Reserve, East Jerrabomberra Grasslands, Goorooyarroo Nature Reserve, Mulligans Flat Nature Reserve, and Kama Nature Reserve.

The five reserves to be closed from 5 pm to 7 am each day are Mount Majura Nature Reserve, Mount Painter Nature Reserve, Mount Mugga Mugga Nature Reserve, Isaacs Ridge Nature Reserve, and the Pinnacle Nature Reserve. Googong Foreshores will close daily from 6 pm to 8 am.

Culling numbers assessed annually

“The number of eastern grey kangaroos to be culled in each area is assessed annually by ACT Government ecologists and takes into account current scientific knowledge and the target densities necessary to support conservation outcomes,” Mr Iglesias said.

“Due to previous culling and favourable conditions for pasture growth, the numbers to cull at some sites are reduced this year.”

Mr Iglesias said kangaroo culling is the most humane method of population control available to the ACT Government.

“However a research trial is currently underway into the use of a fertility control vaccine as a potential non-lethal approach to eastern grey kangaroo management. Preliminary results are looking positive, with more results expected towards the end of the year,” he said.

Culling rationale disputed

Animal Liberation ACT spokeswoman Carolyn Drew called the kangaroo culling “immoral and unethical” and disputed the rationale behind the practice.

“Since they’ve doing their so-called conservation cull, they’ve come out with a different rationale every year,” she said.

“It started with starvation back in Belconnen in 2008 and then they did it because of concerns with Legless Lizards and the Golden Sun Moth, and for the last three years they’ve come up with concerns for little birds.

“It seems that they develop or grow their rationale and there’s no actual evidence,” Ms Drew said.

“The other thing they haven’t given the public is any evidence-based research as to whether the culling is actually having the outcome they want.”

Mr Iglesias said the conservation cull will be conducted according to the relevant National Code of Practice and that a proportion of the kangaroo meat will again be used to make baits to use in its wild dog and fox control programs.

He said that ACT Parks and Conservation Service staff will patrol areas to ensure public safety, with warning signs placed at all entry points to reserves and surveillance cameras used to enhance public safety and detect any illegal activity.

What do you think about kangaroo culling? Is it necessary or does it go too far? Let us know in the comments below.

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wildturkeycanoe7:26 am 27 May 17

sensible_aussie said :

Culling is mandatory. Has been for years all over Australia.
Why does Canberra insist on being so different to the rest of the country?
I’ve been to farms throughout NSW/ Vic and WA, and all farmers consider them just as much a pest as rabbits, foxes, pigs, etc. Why?
Because they wreck everything.
And the problem with Canberra is there’s so much food for them, they grow bigger and bigger.
Have any of you guys posting comments ever hit a roo?
Believe me… the people making good money over all this are the panel-beaters.
And they should double the figure too they’re gong to shoot too.
Load of rubbish about them thinning out… they’ve just moved on to where there’s more food.

Listen to the sensible Aussie. Your car’s insurance premiums are high because of the costs to repair vehicles that are damaged from hitting kangaroos. If the numbers were in decline and the species threatened, surely we’d be seeing less of them and a reduction in premiums.
All this compassion for roos is negatively affecting other smaller species that are suffering due to kangaroo overgrazing. Where is the animal liberationist to speak up for the bettong?
There is a lot of finger pointing at the government, specifically related to evidence for culling kangaroos. What evidence have the cull protesters brought to the table apart from emotive dribble about joeys? None! There is little to no scientific data to support their ideological motivations. They may as well be protesting about poisoning foxes and rabbits, just because they are so cute and furry.

sensible_aussie5:05 pm 26 May 17

Culling is mandatory. Has been for years all over Australia.
Why does Canberra insist on being so different to the rest of the country?
I’ve been to farms throughout NSW/ Vic and WA, and all farmers consider them just as much a pest as rabbits, foxes, pigs, etc. Why?
Because they wreck everything.
And the problem with Canberra is there’s so much food for them, they grow bigger and bigger.
Have any of you guys posting comments ever hit a roo?
Believe me… the people making good money over all this are the panel-beaters.
And they should double the figure too they’re gong to shoot too.
Load of rubbish about them thinning out… they’ve just moved on to where there’s more food.

dungfungus said :

Speedy Fish said :

I agree with wildturkeycanoe. Kangaroos, like rabbits, are a menace to Australian society. If they can’t live harmoniously with humans they should be culled. After all, we were here first. The only way to ensure they don’t attack are precious motor vehicles is to eliminate them. Of course we’d have to change the pictures on our coat of arms and $1 coin. I suggest a self interested redneck with a high-powered fire rifle.

A “self interested redneck” with a high-powered (fire?) rifle is going to survive on this planet a lot longer that you or I will.

Really? Because of kangaroos? Or are you talking about something else?

Speedy Fish said :

I agree with wildturkeycanoe. Kangaroos, like rabbits, are a menace to Australian society. If they can’t live harmoniously with humans they should be culled. After all, we were here first. The only way to ensure they don’t attack are precious motor vehicles is to eliminate them. Of course we’d have to change the pictures on our coat of arms and $1 coin. I suggest a self interested redneck with a high-powered fire rifle.

A “self interested redneck” with a high-powered (fire?) rifle is going to survive on this planet a lot longer that you or I will.

I agree with wildturkeycanoe. Kangaroos, like rabbits, are a menace to Australian society. If they can’t live harmoniously with humans they should be culled. After all, we were here first. The only way to ensure they don’t attack are precious motor vehicles is to eliminate them. Of course we’d have to change the pictures on our coat of arms and $1 coin. I suggest a self interested redneck with a high-powered fire rifle.

wildturkeycanoe6:48 am 19 May 17

Every time I think back to the money I spent repairing or claiming damages on motor insurance due to kangaroo strike on our highways, I get the urge to line up a roo in the sights of a high powered rifle. They are a menace to society. According to government survey, “17 per cent of the respondents who had ever owned an ACT registered vehicle stated that the vehicle had hit a kangaroo on an ACT road.”. That is almost ten times more than the number of people who voted for the Animal Justice Party at the last election.
I am not going to bother with forming arguments about the necessities for reducing their number, as the animal welfare lobby are so choked up with emotion that they are unable to listen to or digest logic.
I would however like to know why there isn’t as much noise from the AJP for protecting bunnies from Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease. According to the animal liberationists’ mantra, slaughtering them with a disease that takes a long time to kill, causing suffering to the poor little things, is a travesty. Millions are going to die from this, but a few thousand kangaroos being killed humanely, with instant death rather than a prolonged suffering, seem to be the flavor of the month.

Roksteddy said :

dungfungus said :

These culls of native wildlife are a total waste of resources.

What is being done about feral deer, pigs, goats, foxes, cats, dogs and fish that are all thriving in the Tinderry Ranges and Namadgi National Park?

There are management programs for all of those too (although the ACT Gov has nothing to do with the Tinderry ranges)

I am aware of that but the ACT government’s spokesman on this issue refereed to the Tinderry Ranges so why don’t you remind him too?

Cienwen said :

When it comes to Kangaroos in this country ‘democracy’ fly’s out the window and is replaced by ‘dictatorship

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-09/act-kangaroo-cull-survey-reveals-increasing-support-for-control/6605188

dungfungus said :

These culls of native wildlife are a total waste of resources.

What is being done about feral deer, pigs, goats, foxes, cats, dogs and fish that are all thriving in the Tinderry Ranges and Namadgi National Park?

There are management programs for all of those too (although the ACT Gov has nothing to do with the Tinderry ranges)

Lucei said :

Have you considered what sort of sick individual would put their hand up to shoot these Australian animals and to smash the in pouch joeys heads in??? Also, the poor at foot Joeys who flee in panic when their mother is shot, these joeys will race around calling in panic trying to find their dead mother who will be cut up for Fox bait. What a sick evil ACT Government. Killing one of the biggest tourist attraction they have. SHAME on all involved. Female Joeys stay with their mother’s mob for life. Think about the decimation to Kangaroo families.

If your whole argument relies on emotive language and anthropomorphising Kangaroos, then you don’t really have much of an argument in the first place. Just sayin’.

Lucei said :

Have you considered what sort of sick individual would put their hand up to shoot these Australian animals and to smash the in pouch joeys heads in??? Also, the poor at foot Joeys who flee in panic when their mother is shot, these joeys will race around calling in panic trying to find their dead mother who will be cut up for Fox bait. What a sick evil ACT Government. Killing one of the biggest tourist attraction they have. SHAME on all involved. Female Joeys stay with their mother’s mob for life. Think about the decimation to Kangaroo families.

Have you ever been to an abattoir? They used to be called “slaughter-houses”.

Have you considered what sort of sick individual would put their hand up to shoot these Australian animals and to smash the in pouch joeys heads in??? Also, the poor at foot Joeys who flee in panic when their mother is shot, these joeys will race around calling in panic trying to find their dead mother who will be cut up for Fox bait. What a sick evil ACT Government. Killing one of the biggest tourist attraction they have. SHAME on all involved. Female Joeys stay with their mother’s mob for life. Think about the decimation to Kangaroo families.

These culls of native wildlife are a total waste of resources.

What is being done about feral deer, pigs, goats, foxes, cats, dogs and fish that are all thriving in the Tinderry Ranges and Namadgi National Park?

And so the slaughter of these much maligned, gentle creatures continues, not just in the ACT but also in the states where the commercial Kangaroo industry is sanctioned.
Carolyn Drew said “It seems that they develop or grow their rationale and there’s no actual evidence,” and this is absolutely true across the board. There is no conclusive evidence which supports the killing of Kangaroos.
Abraham Lincoln said of democracy that is is “government of the people, by the people, and for the people” When it comes to Kangaroos in this country ‘democracy’ fly’s out the window and is replaced by ‘dictatorship’
They, ‘the public servant’ tell us the people they work for what they will do with our Kangaroos.
There is no public consultation, no consideration given to opposing science, no proof that the science they are using is correct, no proof that killing the Kangaroos is working.
All governmental approach regarding Kangaroos is dogmatic, their powers are arbitrary and their attitude is arrogant.
This dictatorial, oppressive domination is not applied only in Canberra but all over Australia.
Mr Iglesias said the conservation cull will be conducted according to the relevant National Code of Practice, sounds good in theory and on paper but who monitors the upholding of the code? and it is questionable that Mr. Iglesias even understand the code.
Kangaroos are the most iconic animal representing Australia, they should be treasured not reviled.

nikolai.jermolajew@gmail.com9:02 pm 16 May 17

I’m not usually one to pay much attention to activists in general but, I agree that the kangaroo cull goes too far, and has been for a while now. My wife and I have been walking Mt. Painter at least 4 days a week since we moved to Macquarie 4 years ago. When we first came here we’d enjoy seeing a few roos around the mountain, occasionally. It never seemed remotely close to an amount which would require intervention. Since the first cull after we moved in, I haven’t seen another kangaroo on Mt. Painter. So I was pleasantly surprised to come across 4 Easrern Greys on the weekend while I was out for a walk with my 2 year old daughter. Literally the first ones I’ve seen up there in 3 years. My daughter loves animals and was extatic to come across kangaroos in the wild for the first time. I’m just glad she’s too young to understand why she probably won’t be seeing them, or any other kangaroos for that matter, anytime soon.

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